Rise of the Alters
by Kazufox
Summary: An alter user in search of his friend who becomes apart of an evil plan to take over Lylat. The Starwolf team are blamed for all of it! Can the Starfox team up with the young alter user and find the real culprits before it's too late? Chapter 10 up
1. Prologue

Rise of the Alters

Alter users in the Lylat start a new war

Prologue:

Many years ago on the planet Corneria, a great upheaval of the ground has occurred and the cause is unknown. After a few years, the land was considered inhabitable and residents began to move there. However, a new breed of life forms began to emerge. They were known as alter users. After many attacks in the area caused by alter users, the cities built large barriers around them. This would not prepare them for what happened a few years later. Most of the cities built were annihilated and afterwards came a large explosion that seemed to not affect alter users at all. The one responsible for the attack is still unknown. In response to the attack, the government formed a special military unit composed of alter users called HOLY. The leader was Anthony Avalon.

----

Three years ago…

Andross' remaining army still posed as a threat as well as the growing number of problems dealing with alter users. So General Pepper gave a ferret named Eiji Musen, total control over the alter crisis. However, Eiji was secretly apart of Andross' army and all the captured alter users were used in experiments for the Venomian cause. There were two that were the greatest threat to him, a red fox and an artic wolf…

----

A claw of a giant metallic green bug-like creature strikes the ground trying to take out the fox and wolf alter users. The creature was Eiji, but his body was mutated with pure power to the point beyond recognition.

"Give up! You can't defeat me! Not with all this power I've obtained!" Exclaimed Eiji.

"Give up? That's a laugh." Replied the fox alter user in orange armor.

"I'll destroy you!"

The giant creature fires a barrage of lasers from the open ports on its shoulders at the fox, however every shot deflects off of the vulpine.

"I have all this power and you're just a kid, there's no way you can defeat me!"

"We'll just see about that!"

The fox alter user lunged toward Eiji and with one powerful punch to the forehead, the creature began to fall to pieces.  
"How can this be!? I can't possibly be defeated by you pitiful beings!" The creature howled out as it was sent into oblivion.

"Took you long enough." Said the wolf.

"Hey, just trying to have a little fun."

----

After the two defeated Musen and stopped his plans of taking over the planet but the cost was high and many sacrifices were made. And also the unit, HOLY, was no more. The duo then went their was to destroy the army of refined alter users still hunting them down. General Pepper, however, had caught on to what was going on and ended the project of refining alter users and had all parties involved arrested. Yet, there still were many already refined soldiers sent out.

----

A year later, the incident on planet Sauria occurred, but at the location of an old space base belonging to Andross, things were livelier than they seemed. Inside the base's storage area, a small carrier ship was preparing to land from its mission. A male leopard was in the room waiting for them to land, he was dressed in a black uniform garb with white in the front with four black buttons aligned on the edges of the white over the chest area, black boots and white arm guards that covered his wrist to his elbow in a light armor. He waited with a group of soldiers in Venomian type uniforms. Once the ship had finally landed, the leopard walked over as the cargo bay hatch opened and soldiers began going inside and a short while later, began pulling out a bunch on mechanical blue pods, each one glowing an eerie blue light. The recovery team walked out helping as well, but they were still in their contaminations suits, most had the headgear removed.

"Jetters, we've successfully recovered all the capsules." Informed a canine soldier.

"Good, go inform the commander." The leopard ordered and the soldier was on his way.

"Jetters, I'm so glad you came by to greet us." Said an orangutan still wearing his contamination suit without the helmet.

"How are the new arrivals?" Jetters asked.

"Their vitals are doing very good for being put to sleep for who knows how long. Yet, most of them seem to be nothing more than average soldiers."

"That's not too surprising…" The leopard scoffed.

"But I did notice a group with different energy signatures, and even their appearances." The orange haired soldier said.

"Show me."

----

A small office with a white furred liger with black stripes sat at his desk browsing through his computer over certain files. He then shut it off then eyes closed and his hands folded while his elbows rested on the table. The liger wore the same type of uniform the leopard, Jetters, was wearing. The half-breed was waiting for something to happen, and soon enough, a simian soldier in a Venomian uniform rushes in. "Commander!"

The liger looks up at the exhausted monkey soldier. "What is it, you'd better not waste my time."

"Commander Thomas, sir. There's been sightings on Andross over the dinosaur planet!"

"Andross? Are you sure?" The commander said with a level tone as showing no real interest.

"I'm positive. But…I'm sorry to inform you that shortly after his revival, he was destroyed again by McCloud."

"I see, any word on the capsule recovery team?"

"I'm sorry sir, but no word as of yet."

"What did I tell you specifically about barging into my office and it has nothing to deal with those capsules?" the liger said as he rose from his seat.  
"B-but commander!" the soldier stammered taking a step back, "This information _is_ important, Andross is-"

"Dead!" the commander interrupted, "What good does it do to tell me about a dead ape?"

"But, it's _Andross_! Our Emperor!" The scared soldier said backing towards the door.

"And? He just returned to the living only to die again. And you just wasted my time, a mistake you won't ever make again." Thomas said slowly lifting his right arm with his finger pointed at the monkey. The soldier knew he was in trouble as he glanced back at the door, which was only a few feet away and decided to run while he could. The moment he tensed his muscles in his legs about to start running, the lights dimmed flickering only for a second then the soldier fell over backwards dead with a small burn hole in his chest. The liger had his arms back to his side and looked at the soldier's body with a dull stare before giving a small sigh. Soon enough, another soldier, this one being a canine breed, entered the room.

"Commander Thomas, I bring news of the capsule recovery mission." The mixed bred husky-doberman said while saluting.

"What did you find?"

"There were dozens of capsules recovered. We already unloaded several for you to look at and we are currently bringing in the rest of them."

At hearing this, the liger grinned, "You've done very good soldier. I see a promotion in your future."

"Thank you sir!" The canine saluted noticing the dead body, "Would you like for me to arrange the disposal of this body?"

"Yes, that would be helpful." Thomas said as he walked around towards the door and past the soldier. The half-breed could only think and wonder to himself about how good a catch the recovery group had discovered. Once he had reached the storage area, which the strange capsules were being kept, he found several soldiers of various species in white contamination suits, but some had their helmets removed figuring the capsules weren't radioactive. Thomas entered the room and glanced around seeing the large room almost filled with capsules pods laying all on the ground, and more soldiers were bringing them in using mechs and other lifting machinery.

"Commander Thomas sir," The orangutan in a helmet-less suit greeted, "I'm glad you could be here."

"I see you've had quite a handful." Thomas said with a grin.

"Yes, we've managed to collect over sixty of these capsules and we're still unloading plenty more!"

"Sixty? It's a start." The liger said.

"Commander Thomas!" A leopard called out.

"What is it Jetters?"

"I found some pods you might want to look at." Jetters said as he pointed to some capsule pods separate from the main group. Thomas looked at his second in command with a slightly puzzled look on his face, but that turned into a look of surprise after being shown what was inside one of the pods.

"These are…" The commander began to say placing a paw over the glowing blue glass of the pod with some kind of snake sleeping inside.

"Their minds are still intact for the most part from their outer appearance. They were probably kept in storage for safe keeping." Jetters continued, "And there are several more here as well." Thomas' face turned to a pleased look.

"Yes, these will do."

"So we'll wake them up?" Jetters asked impatiently.

"Not yet, we need to see if their stable or not."

"But I can easily take care of them if they are."

"Don't be too hasty Jetters, the time for battle will come soon enough." Thomas said as he started walking off, "And who knows, one of them may even be stronger than you."

The leopard watched as Thomas walked out of the storage area. "_Stronger than me? What a joke!_" Jetters thought to himself looking back down at one of the pods.

----

Thomas was back in his office looking at some information on his computer. Thomas noticed the canine had removed the dead monkey soldier's body, even had the area cleaned. He scanned through the files and learned the contents inside the pods that his second in command showed him. The liger grinned with delight with his findings. "Looks like I've found my new recruits, now it's time for them to awaken..."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Alter Fox

An old Venomian battle ship flies through space at a steady rate heading in the direction of Katina. On the ship, a red fox lies in his bunker thinking to himself.

"Well another day, another ship." The vulpine sighed, "Man, this is getting old. Especially since it's not even fun. What was I thinking when I joined these losers?"

A static voice hissed from over the intercom.

"Hey, newbie! Get your tail to the pods, we reached the ship sooner than we thought."

"What a pain. Oh well." The fox said as he got up pulling out an old used platinum colored blaster and placing it under the bed until he got back. He walked out of the room locking the door behind him.

----

A Katinan supply ship carrying food and medicine heads toward Corneria, in order to help all the survivors from the Aparoid attack. The ship's commander, Lieutenant Jennifer Greyson was in charge of the mission. Greyson is a gray furred cat with dark stripes. She is a strong fighter that also has a sense of justice for the weak. She also happens to have a record for being able to prevent any command ship under her watch from being destroyed on the battlefield.

"Lieutenant, there's an incoming transmission from base." One soldier informed.

"Alright, put it through." Replied the feline commander. An image of a black furred wolf appeared on the main screen.

"Greetings lieutenant."

"Colonel Summers, this is a nice surprise. What can I do for you sir?" Greyson grinned.

"As you know, many Cornerian and Katinan supply ships were raided and destroyed." The wolf said, "And your ship is entering the area where most of the ships were attacked. Be on guard."

"Will do sir." Greyson responded firmly giving a salute. At that the transmission was cut off. The cat sat back in her seat smiling thinking how nice it was the colonel called just to see how she was doing, then figured maybe she'd do something special for him.

"Lieutenant, there's something on radar." Another soldier called out.

Greyson's smile faded into a look of seriousness, "Put it on the main screen." The screen showed a small, white, arrow-headed shaped pod with the Cornerian insignia on the side and a red blinking light on the top.

"It looks like an escape pod. That's one of ours! Lieutenant, do you think that this is a survivor from another attack?"

"It's hard to say from right here." Greyson said, "Let's bring it onboard."

----

The ship sends out two soldiers to retrieve the pod. The two float out in spacesuits and a tow cable. The two manage to reach the floating pod to see that it's been damaged with the scuff and burn marks on it, but was still usable. One of the soldiers looks inside and finds someone in there, but can't tell for sure who, the glass on the inside was fogged up and the glass was scratched on the outside making it hard to see inside only enough to see a body though. He nods to the other one who then attaches the cable on the nose of the tiny craft. They raise their hands to signal the others to reel them in. The craft and the two soldiers were soon pulled back aboard the ship and the airlock closed behind them.

"The pod is onboard." A soldier reported over the intercom to the bridge. The two soldiers remove their helmets showing both were canine breeds, one a white beagle with a brown spot over his left ear and eye and the other of a terrier breed with tan fur. The two dog soldiers opened the pod and find a young fox inside.

"Hey, look at this." The terrier pointed. The other soldier looks at the young red fox inside the pod wearing a black sleeveless jacket, a blue shoulder pad on his left shoulder, dark colored pants, and a light gray and white long sleeved shirt. He did have an unusual hair color with it being brown mostly but with some patches of crimson.

"What? But he's just a kid." The beagle soldier noted.

"I know, poor guy. Let's report this to the lieutenant." The other dog soldier said as he went over to the intercom. The beagle notices the fox starting to move.

"Hey, kid. Are you alright?"

Suddenly the fox formed an aura around him making him glow and opened his right eye with an evil grin on his face. Before the soldier could react, he was hit hard to the stomach and was knocked unconscious. The fox them jumped out to attack the other guards. The terrier saw this and rushed over to the intercom and hit the alarm.

----

"Lieutenant! We've got a situation down here! Send some-" The desperate voice on the intercom called out.

"Lieutenant, the signals been cut off!"

"I knew it! We're going down just like the others!" Yelped a cowardly soldier.

"I don't want to hear talk like that! We're not going down on my watch!" yelled out Greyson. "Have the security team meet me in the docking bay and put this ship on lock down!" The lieutenant hurried out of the control room and went to the cargo bay.

----

The fox throws on the ground the broken intercom.

"Oh no you don't! Not yet. We're just starting to have a little fun." Said the fox as he walked over to the cowering soldier. Before the fox could do anything else, he heard the doors open.

"Search for any survivors." Greyson ordered. The steel doors behind them closed and locked preventing any escape.

"Heh, looks like your buddies came here to rescue you." The vulpine grinned.

The soldiers carefully entered the room. They search around looking for the intruder. They found one of the soldiers that was unconscious, the beagle still in his spacesuit.

"Lieutenant, I've found a survivor."

"How is he?" Greyson asked.

"He'll be alright."

"Good, get him out of here and see if there are any more survivors." Said Greyson.

"Help! I'm over here!" Screamed the terrier. Greyson and her group rush over to see where the scream was coming from and see the other soldier also unconscious.

"Be careful men. He's in here somewhere." Greyson warned with her blaster drawn and ready to fire. The group went around searching.

"Has anyone found something?" asked the lieutenant.

"Not yet, ma'am."

"All clear over in this corner."

"Keep searching, we have to find him." Ordered Greyson. "I know he's here, I can feel it." The ship was shaking because of an explosion. Greyson and her team went to see where the blast came from. They find out that the doors were blown off. "After him! Don't let him get away!" A small blue capsule landed in front of them and released a gray cloud of smoke surrounding all of them in a thick fog. Some of the other soldiers began to worry, but still held onto their blasters with a firm grip. "Stay calm, just be careful." Greyson said. The other soldiers nodded and began to move around barely being able to see three feet in front of them, especially since the cloud was trapped in the hall with them. One of the dog soldiers searches around pointing his blaster ready to fire, until he turns to his right and finds something coming towards him.

"Lieutenant! I found him! Huagh!" The soldier yelled out before he was attacked. Greyson couldn't tell what was happening but knew where to go. As she went to where she heard the soldier's call, she saw his body flying towards her. She managed to duck in time but one of the other soldiers following wasn't very fortunate. Greyson was still looking until she heard another of her soldiers' scream out and the discharge of their blaster firing. Greyson rushed to where the screams were and found the fox holding an unconscious soldier by the throat.

"Freeze right there!" Ordered Greyson, "Let him go." She was able to see part of his face, a young red fox with brownish-crimson hair standing up on his head and his left eye closed.

"You're the one in charge of this ship, huh?" Said the vulpine.

"Yes, I am. Now answer this, who do you work for?"

"Can't say."

"What do you want?"

"Just all of your supplies and cargo."

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that. There are other people that need these supplies and I won't let them down just because you're trying to play space pirates!" Greyson yelled, "Are you the one who's been attacking the other ships?"

"What if I did?"

"Then I'll take you down!" The cat said as she aimed her blaster at the fox, but he threw the soldier at her. Greyson dodges again and fired a shot aimed at the vulpine's heart. The fox blocks the shot with his right arm. Greyson doesn't hesitate to fire more shots but the fox's arm blocks each and every single shot. Greyson runs back into the cargo bay trying to lure the fox. She hides behind a stack of large steel crates close to the wall. The fox enters the room looking around. He keeps walking around not searching to the gray cat even as the smoke disperses into the area. Greyson speedily climbs to the top of a large stack of crates and uses her knife to cuts the ropes tying them down.

"This is getting dull." The fox complained, "Give up your stuff and I'll spare you and all your crew."

"I don't think so." Greyson grunted pressing her back to the wall with her feet on the crate. She pushed the large crate onto the fox and it crashed on top of him. Greyson thought it was over but was still cautious holding her blaster ready. To her horror, the fox was standing there unharmed and had blocked the heavy object with the same right arm.

"Nice try!" The fox said as he punched the crate on the bottom causing them all to topple over. Greyson had jumped off, landing her feet on the ground and starts firing her blaster at the vulpine. The fox just stood and blocked the attacks with his arm. The fox struck the ground, launching himself toward the lieutenant. Greyson moves out of the way and tries to fire point blank at the fox's head but the vulpine's hand was already on her blaster.

"Hey, you're pretty good. But not enough to stop me." The fox smirked as he crushed the blaster and tossed it aside.

Greyson took a step back before lunging with her knife at the intruder. The fox catches the knife by the blade and breaks it off. "_What is he?_" The cat wondered. Before Greyson could get back, the fox threw a broken piece of the knife and threw it at her. Greyson had to stop in order to dodge but it was all the intruder needed in order to catch her. He grabbed her shirt collar and pinned her to the ground.

"Like I said, you're good. But not good enough." The vulpine mocked.

"What are you?" She asked noticing that the fox had Andross' insignia on the blue shoulder pad.

"Me?" The fox grinned, "I'm your worst nightmare."

----

The next morning, Greyson woke up in the hospital on Katina. She sat up, shocked to know that she was in a hospital bed, but was greeted by a familiar voice.

"I'm glad you're awake." Said the black furred wolf sitting in a chair next to her, "You started to have me worried."

"It's good to see you too, Colonel Summers." Greyson sighed taking a few deep breaths but then went into a panic, "But how did I get here? And the ship? The cargo? The crew?"

"Calm down, you were knocked unconscious in the attack. And those soldiers will be alright, however, your ship and its cargo was lost." The wolf saw a look of disappointment on the lieutenant's face. "You're upset about the ship, aren't you?" Summers asked. The lieutenant looked away and nodded with a disappointed look on her face. "Listen, don't be so hard on yourself. There was nothing more you could've done and you know it. It's more important that there weren't any casualties."

"It's not that. It's…the fact I let so many people down because I couldn't stop just _one_ pirate! A young one at that…"

"We're working around the clock to find out who he's working for and for who."

The feline sat up in bed rubbing her eye and scratches her head, "Oh…my head. Wait, I remember he the Andross' emblem on him. I'm guessing he's probably Venomian."

"Venomian?" Summers wondered, "Looks like Corneria still can't handle things on their own in finding the rest of those thugs."

"And judging by the stuff he had, the pod, a smoke bomb, and an impenetrable arm for a shield…he was well-equipped."

The wolf nodded, "This information can help out further with the investigation." He then placed his paw on Greyson's shoulder and laid her back down in bed, "You on the otherhand, need your rest."

"Okay…" The lieutenant groaned.

"But what I don't understand though, is why there were no casualties whatsoever. So I have my doubts about him being an actual Venomian." Summers pondered.

"He's still young, maybe he's not as bad as those other soldiers from Venom."

"I highly doubt that. They'll use anything, even little children to further their ambitions. But I meant about what one of the other soldiers said about him."

"What do you mean?"

"After you were knocked unconscious, he told one of your soldiers to get you and the rest of the crew to abandon ship because the rest of his group was coming to pick him and the supplies up." Greyson looked up in surprise at the colonel hearing this. "It could be some random gang of space pirates trying to make themselves appear to be Venomian soldiers, my guess is Starwolf. But whoever it is, they _will_ be brought down." The lupine looked up at the wall clock, "Alright, you better get your rest now." As he started to get up, the cat grabs his wrist.

"Okay, but can you stay with me for a while? Please?" Greyson asked poking out her lower lip pouting and looked up longingly at the wolf.

The lupine sighs, "I am off duty for another half-hour, so I don't see the need to leave right away."

"Wesley, thank you." Greyson smiled holding the wolf's paw in her hand.

----

In the asteroid field lies hidden one of Starwolf's bases, Volstra. It wasn't as big as Sargasso, but it did have plenty of room to carry plenty of soldiers and supplies. Inside the hangar, the space pirates have a little celebration.

"Hey, we really scored big this time!" Exclaimed an ape soldier.

"Yeah, this one was a big haul." A raccoon said.

"And it's all thanks to the newbie!" Said another primate soldier.

"Aw, gee guys. Thanks." Said the fox.

"Let's give a toast to the new guy!"

"I'll drink to that!" The pirates chug down their drinks.

"Hey kid, you can drink some of this too."

"No thanks, I don't drink."

"Tch. Fine, more for us then."

The door to the hangar open and Wolf walks in. He becomes furious seeing his soldiers goofing around partying instead of being hard at work. "What's all this?" Wolf asked as he looks around the now silent group of partiers, "I won't ask again, tell me!"

"W-well you see, sir, we were just havin a little party that's all." One of the ape solders said then gulped.

"A party?"

"Yeah, to celebrate our biggest catch in a while."

"I didn't authorize this so clean this mess up and get back to work right now! All of you!" Wolf ordered as his gaze went upon the fox and pointed to him, "You, brat, I want a word with you." The soldiers began to clean up everything like Wolf ordered them to. And the vulpine and Wolf went to another section of the hangar.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Wolf scolded, "Throwing a party like this!"

"Hey, it wasn't my idea. I'm not really into what the other guys are up to." the vulpine responded in a calm manner.

"You had better watch your step around here, got it?"

"Sure no problem Wolf, I mean Lord O'Donnell." The fox said as he gave a salute.

"I'm going to be watching you, kid. So you'd better do everything I say or else, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" The vulpine gave another salute before returning to working in the hangar.

Wolf had then left the hangar still fuming over the fox's attitude. Back in the hangar, the fox enjoys a few minutes to rest until Panther walks in after passing by a very angry Wolf.

"Hey you." Panther called out, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just taking a little break, that's all." Responded the vulpine.

"Did you finish my cleaning Wolfen?"

"Yeah, all done."

"We'll just see about that." Panther said as he examined his ship. "Mmhmm…not bad. Looks okay." Panther then notices a few streak marks on the cockpit. "You, call this done? It's awful! My beautiful Wolfen must be perfect when it goes into battle. Clean it again and wax it, right now!"

"What!? But I cleaned the thing and waxed it with all that wax you wanted me to use. Geez, you could've made a wax city with all that!"

"Do it or else." Panther said as he left.

"Damn, I really hate that guy!" The fox said to himself kicking a box of tools.

"Ha ha ha! You're gonna have to deal with him like the rest of us."

The fox looked over at the alligator that said that. "I know but he doesn't have to be such a pain! I don't even know why we take orders from him."

"Ha ha! Yeah, but you know the only reason we have to follow orders from him is because he's on Wolf's team." The alligator said, "Hey, how about I help you with the cleanup and then get you a soda, on me of course."

"Sure I guess." The gator drops a bucket with cleaning supplies in it and walks out.

"Hey! I thought you said that you were going to help?" The fox whined.

"I did. I got the cleaning stuff so all you need is the water and I'm getting the drinks. Take care, little buddy."

"Dammit, Ralph! That wasn't much help you lazy bastard!" The vulpine yelled out as the gator left the hangar, "And I'm not little!"

"Looks like he got you again." Said a brown-feathered eagle.

"What's it to you." The fox said glaring at the eagle.

"Heh, don't worry. He usually does that to everyone."

"Sure, easy for you to say Shawn, especially since you've known him longer than me."

"That's true also. Well, take care."

"What? You're leaving too?"

"As I recall, Panther told _you_ to clean his ship so have fun." Shawn said walking away.

"Damn, I can't find _any_ good help around here…" The fox grumbled to himself.

----

Wolf finishes checking up on the soldiers making sure they were working and not goofing off and he takes the elevator as he heads toward his quarters. Yet, he was still unhappy with the fox's attitude earlier. When the elevator doors open, Leon walks in and the doors close. Wolf looks over to the lizard and sees him leaning to the side.

"Do you even trust him, Wolf?" Asked the lizard.

"What choice do I have, Leon?" Wolf answered, "He's too valuable to lose right now."

"I'm just a little concerned that's all."

"Don't tell me you're getting nervous." Wolf said glancing back over at Leon.

"No, it's just that we might be the ones using him or…he's the one using us."

"Don't worry, I have ways of knowing."

"Oh? And how may I ask would you know?"

"Leon, what is he?"

"He's an alter user."

"No, I mean _what_ is he?"

"He's a fox."

Wolf nods, "Since he is a fox no one trusts him. And I bet that everyone is just waiting for him to do something because they're going to get some kind of promotion. But in reality, they aren't getting much of anything."

"Good plan but what if someone actually decides to help him?"

Wolf closes his eye and thinks of that possibility, "Then you'll have some new playmates." The elevator soon stops and Leon begins to walk out.

"Listen Wolf, we still have to keep a tight leash on him, otherwise he'll become too wild to control." The elevator door closes. As Wolf heads up he thinks about what Leon said.

----

The next day came as the young fox deals with being worked like a dog, mainly by Panther. After getting up early to do cleanup, the fox wonders around the base. The fox went to the control tower area. He noticed two guards talking and one of them, a dog soldier, brown-haired retriever, went into the bathroom and the fox followed. The bathroom was a mess with brownish decay on the walls and floor, toilets that had urine sprayed on the seats, leaky sinks that would drip if not shut very tightly, and the stench in there was horrible. That was mainly due to the fact that after some use the toilets, they never flush and it stays for days even weeks and there was the ventilation was poor. The guard went to one of the urinals trying to undo his armor and unzip his fly. He mumbled to himself about how rotten the bathrooms were, and how he'd hate to have to clean them. And while doing this, doesn't notice the fox behind him until he feels a hand grabbing the back of his head and forcing it into the wall. The fox picks up the unconscious soldier and drags him into one of the stalls. And in the stall, he stole the guard's armor. It was still a little large for him and a snug fit for his tail, but it would have to do. The disguised fox walked out and went to go into the control room.

"Sorry, but you don't have access." Said a heavily armed ape soldier.

"Will this work?" The vulpine answered the ID he stole.

"Sure, go ahead."

The vulpine entered the area and had made his way to where the main computer was located. Fortunately, nobody was ever really in the room, only during security scans as well as when or if they come under attack to contact either Wolf or the other bases. He then removed the helmet from the heavy armor gasping for air with his fur wet from sweating.

"Man, it's hard to breathe in that suit. Let's see, if I'm right then everything should be stored here." The fox accessed the computer and started scanning through the files searching for something. "There's nothing here. A protected area, huh? I hope this thing works…" The fox pulls out a disk and puts it in the computer. The disk's program destroyed the firewall giving the fox full access to everything. "It's got to be around here somewhere. Dammit, it's not here!" The fox yelled out as he pounded his fists on the keypads.

----

Meanwhile, one of the other pirates had went into the bathroom, a crocodile soldier. He stood up at one of the urine-covered urinals not bothered by the smell. He then gave a small sigh of relief but then heard some moaning noises from one of the stalls. Once the croc finished, he zipped himself up and went over to the locked stall and heard more groaning.

"Hey, are you alright in there?" The croc asked. He didn't get an answer but he did hear a thudding noise. The reptile looked under the stall to see and found the canine soldier, but then remembered that he was supposed to be on duty and seeing him on the ground with some blood dripping from his forehead, the croc kicked the door in and found the guard out of armor and in his underwear. He then realized something happened and goes off to sound the alarm.

----

The alarms were going off making a siren noise and the computer room was flashing in a deep red color.

"Oh no! Not good." The fox tried to shut down the computer and make his escape but before he could leave two guards appeared at the door. The fox punches one and kicks the other as he ran past them. In the hallway, other security guards found him and started firing. The fox ran in the other direction toward the elevator lift. The two guards he ran by were also firing from the other end of the hall on the vulpine as the armor took the damage. When the fox reached the elevator, it already went down. The guards had cornered him.

"We've got him now!" Said one of the guards. "Drop your weapons and put your hands up!" At that the vulpine gave a sly grin as he raised his hands and jumped off. As the fox was falling the armor he wore disintegrated and formed into orange armor that fused onto his arm, three red blades formed on his back and his brownish-crimson colored hair stood up on his head. He took his red claw and dug into the wall to as he fell down to the hangar area. The guards opened fire on the vulpine.

"What are you guys waiting for? After him!" Ordered one of the guards, "Contact Lord O'Donnell! Inform him on the situation."

----

Wolf was in his quarters taking a nap trying to clear his mind to plan out their next course of action, as well as the fact he hadn't slept in four days. Now he woke up because of the blaring alarms and he goes out to find soldiers hurrying around.

"What's going on?" Wolf asked one of the soldiers.

"Lord O'Donnell, we're under attack!"

"McCloud?" Wolf guessed opening his eye in surprise.

"No sir, it's someone else, that fox kid."

Wolf's face turned to one showing blazing anger, "Damn that kid! Where is he heading to?"

"He's going to the hangar." At this Wolf rushed off to get to his ship before any more damage was done.

----

The vulpine reached the hangar and when he did he found himself under fire from the troops inside. The fox took cover behind a control panel then he pulled out his scratched up blaster and returned fire. Soon enough the back up troops arrived and the fox was surrounded and was being shot at on both sides.

"This is way too much. I've got to reach a ship." The fox said to himself as he put up his blaster in his holster. He placed some smoke bombs and then punched the ground sending him flying over the pirates. The bombs then went off creating a large smokescreen blinding the space pirates. The fox took advantage of the situation and jumped into a Wolfen. By the time Wolf, Leon and Panther reached the hangar, the fox had already taken off.

"We're too late!" Said Leon.

"Not yet. To the Wolfens!" Yelled out Wolf. Wolf and Leon climbed into their ships and Panther soon realizes that his ship was gone.

"Hey, that little punk stole my Wolfen!" Panther complained.

"Well what do you want me to do? Use another!"

"But I cannot!" The feline protested.

"Then just stay here!" Wolf yelled, "Everyone else, get to your ships!"

"Wait! Lord O'Donnell! Your ship!" Called out a raccoon mechanic. Before the mechanic was able to reach them, the two Wolfens took off in pursuit and so did many pirates.

----

The fox was out flying at high speeds trying to get away until he found himself surrounded. "_Crap, they already caught up to me!_" The fox thought to himself.

"Where do you think you're going?" Asked an agitated Wolf.

"Anywhere but here." Responded the vulpine, "Sorry, but you don't have what I'm looking for so, I decided to leave."

"You cocky brat, you won't make it out of here alive." Said Leon.

"We'll just see about that!" The vulpine said as he flew straight into a group of pirates and shooting at them.

"Shoot him down, that's an order!" commanded Wolf. The ships started firing on the lone Wolfen but the fox manages to avoid most of their fire he doesn't notice Leon behind him. The fox found a clearing in the asteroid field and tries to activate the ships hyperdrive but Leon had locked on and fired before that happened.

"Gaaah!" The fox screamed out feeling the ship shaking violently with the alarm beeping, "Oh no, the controls. At least I can still make the jump but now I've got to wait. This isn't good."

"Did you really think you could get away?" The lizard coldly taunted. The young pilot desperately tries to escape from the lizard's sights. "It's over." Leon said as he shot another charged shot at the fox. The vulpine tries to shake it but fails in all his attempts. He then went on a head on collision course with one of the pirates. Just before he crashed, the fox steered the ship out of the way just only having one of the wings cut the underside of the ship as it was then blown up by the charged shot. Wolf flies over to the Wolfen and rams the ship causing a lot of damage. The fox then used the boosters to pull away before Wolf could finish him but Wolf pursued the fox, firing at every chance he had. The fox was turning in every direction in order to dodge then found himself cornered by a group of pirates firing on the ship. The fox tried doing barrel rolls but only so much damage was prevented.

"It's over, kid." Wolf said as he charged his laser for one final attack. The fox finds another clearing in the asteroids and tries to execute the hyperdrive but his path is blocked by Leon and by several enemy ships.

"Where are you going? The party's just begun." Leon said as he fired on the ship. The fox did a U-turn but Wolf closely followed with the ship in his sights.

"Now you die!" Wolf then fired a charged shot at the stolen Wolfen.

"No. Not now, not yet." The fox said to himself. "I won't die!!" He then hits the hyperdrive shooting him through hyperspace right before the ship was hit by the full effect of the shot.

"Sir, we've lost him!" Reported one of the pilots.

"Don't worry, we'll get him ourselves. Leon!" The two Wolfens try to activate the hyperdrive but it fails to activate.

"Wolf, my ship isn't responding!"

"What the…"

"Lord O'Donnell!" Called out the raccoon mechanic over the intercom, "I tried to tell you that your hyperdrive systems have been removed."

"Removed!?" Wolf roared, "Who gave you the order to do this?"

"W-well sir, someone said that y-you wanted the Wolfens hyperdrive systems removed to be repaired and-"

"I've heard enough."

"Do you think that he got lucky?" The lizard asked.

"Maybe...a little _too_ lucky. Everyone return to base." Wolf then heard an explosion over the intercom. "What's going on? What was that explosion?"

"Wolf, look!" Leon said as he pointed to the base.

Wolf looked and saw that the tower area was destroyed.

"Just who was that kid?"

"I don't know." Wolf said in a low growl, "But he won't live to regret the day he messed with Wolf O'Donnell!"

----

As the lone Wolfen exits hyperspace around orbit over Corneria, the exhausted young fox then drifted into space.

"That…was a close one." The fox said breathing hard, "Who knew his little toys proved useful afterall? Smoke bombs, the armor, and this ship? Heh…I wish I could see the look on one-eye's face! Ha ha ha…I must've really got him…good..." The young fox then starts to get sleepy and his arm returns to its regular form, the blades disappear and his hair returns to back down on his head. The fox reaches for his cracked blue shoulder pad with Andross' emblem on it and rips it off. He then laughed to himself weakly not noticing a large ship heading his way before drifting asleep.

----

Another day passes by in the Great Fox for the Starfox team as it flies over Corneria, except Peppy wasn't there with them. Fox lies in his bed thinking about how great it is to see Peppy after a long time since he left the team and went into retirement. Fox then gets up and leaves his room and sees Falco at the door.

"Hey McCloud, bout time you woke up. Or did you forget what we're supposed to do today?" Asked the avian.

"No, I didn't forget. I was just thinking that's its been a long time since we saw Peppy."

"I know what you mean." Falco agreed, "C'mon, the other are waiting on the bridge."

The two starfighters reached the bridge and there already waiting was Krystal and an overly hyper Slippy.

"Good morning sleepy head." Krystal said.

"Good morning to you too." Responded Fox.

"Wow, I can't believe we're finally going to see Peppy again!" Exclaimed Slippy as he spun around in his chair.

"We'll all be glad to see him again in person." Fox added.

"Yeah, I wonder how much older looking that guy's gotten." Falco joked.

"Falco!" Krystal scolded, "You should really watch your beak."

"Hey, calm down I was just kidding. Sheesh, can't take a joke."

"Unknown vessel detected." ROB reported.

"Put it on the monitor." Fox commanded. The monitor screen shows a Wolfen ship drifting in space.

"Look, it's got that rose on it." Slippy pointed out.

"Hey Krystal, that Panther guy is here to see you." Falco said with a smirk on his face.

"I've got nothing to say to him unless he's surrendering himself to the authorities." Krystal said crossing her arms and turning her head away.

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen. Hey Fox, let's go and thrash him. Fox?"

"There's something odd about that ship." Fox noted staring at the image.

"Ah, you're just worrying too much."

"Maybe but it's better to be safe than sorry. ROB, can you enlarge that image?"

"Affirmative." Responded the robot. As the image was increased, the damages were more visible. The team was shocked to see that the ship had taken so much damage.

"What in the world happened?" Falco wondered.

"That thing is totaled!" Slippy said in a surprised shrill voice.

"Wait, something's not right." Krystal said.

"What do you mean Krystal?" Fox asked.

"I'm sensing someone in there but it isn't Panther or anyone from Wolf's team."

"Let's bring that ship in."

"What? Are you crazy? What if it's a trap? You know that there's been a lot of attacks recently." Said Falco. "We should just blast it right now."

"I know how you feel, but if the pilot's alive then we might know something about what happened."

"Yeah Falco, and I doubt that Wolf would even do that to one of his own ships." Slippy mentioned.

"I agree, we should help." Krystal added.

"Fine, let's bring it in." The avian said reluctantly, "But if something happens don't say I didn't told ya so."

----

As the Wolfen drifted in orbit around Corneria, the radar shows a large ship heading towards him. The fox still holds on the broken shoulder pad and drops it on the floor. Still in a deep sleep, the vulpine begins to dream and wonder at the same time, how he got into that mess.

----

"Come on? Is that all you've got?" The fox said as he destroyed a bird like creature. The vulpine had an orange arm with a red claw, three wing blades on his back, hair that stood up on his head except for a large strand and his left eye was sealed shut. "You guys aren't really making this much of a challenge." The fox taunted the masked soldiers trying to capture him, "I was hoping this would be more fun, oh well."

Then ten of the masked fighters combined their powers to form a large four-legged dragon creature. With a mighty roar, the beast tries to crush the vulpine with its claws but the fox easily dodges. As the dragon swung its tail at the fox, he struck the ground with his fist and went into the air.

"Time to end this little game! Shocking First Bullet!!" The fox yelled out as the blade on his lower back disintegrated and shot out sapphire colored energy propelling him toward the dragon and with one punch, shattered the entire head section. "This is seriously getting old."

Suddenly, the Aparoids overtook the masked fighters. The dragon then disappeared, as its controllers were being killed off and absorbed one by one.

"Well that's new." The fox noted as he watched the bugs devour the refined alter users. They turned their attention towards him, "I'm guessing you guys aren't here to help me out."

One of the Aparoids then lunged at the fox but he swiped the bug away. Then slowly they all started attacking and some were attaching themselves to him, mainly his alter.

"Damned bugs, get off! Terminating Second Bullet!!" the fox then struck the ground clearing the Aparoids around him but there were plenty more but they didn't bother to attack.

"Huh? Why did these things just stop?"

"Hey, Kazufox!" Called out a mysterious voice.

"Huh? That voice, it sounds familiar but…it couldn't be, could it?" The fox said to himself as he looked to see the person that called his name, "Kite?"

"Long time no see." The desert coyote said as he was surrounded by some of the Aparoids.

"Kite, get away from those things!"

"Don't worry. These guys don't mean any harm."

"Yeah right! But…how are you-I mean I thought you were…"

"Dead? I was until these guys came along."

"So, it's these bugs that saved you?"

"Yes, they're the ones who brought me back alive."

"Okay, but what do they want with me?"

"They want you to join us."

"Us?"

"Yes, together with these creatures you can have all the power you ever dreamed of. Everyone that you've known to be dead will be back and you will become one with the ultimate being in the universe."

"Sounds interesting, give me time to think for a while."

"We don't have time! The queen needs your help! Hurry, she's in danger. Your power…"

"Hey, nobody is going to use my power for themselves got it?"

"Don't be foolish. You would rather waste your life fighting these meaningless battles instead of helping us take the universe that rightly belongs to us?"

"Guess so, besides Kite, if that is who you really are. I prefer that we keep our separate bodies. No offense but I'd rather not share a body with you. I don't want to be that close of a friend anyways, don't take it personally."

"Very well then, we shall make you join even if we destroy you in the process!" The coyote said as he sent the group to attack Kazufox.

"How stupid do you think I am? The real Kite would know better than to underestimate my power. Here, let me show you why! Obliterating Last Bullet!!" At that the fox launched himself towards the image that took the form of his friend and destroyed it. The bugs then went to attack Kazufox. "Come on you bastards! I'm ready for you!" The vulpine yelled out as he opened his left eye and transformed himself. His arm changed shape, a propeller formed on his back and he had an eyepiece covering his left eye. He fought the bugs with the best he could. He was soon outnumbered and overtaken as the bugs started to merge onto his arm. It seemed like things would be over except for the fact that right at that moment, the queen of the Aparoids was destroyed and the planet started falling apart. Kazufox noticed that they stopped. He didn't bother to wait and see what would happen next so with the strength he had in him left, fought his way out. He made his escape before the group exploded leaving no trail of anything.

"What was that all about?" Kazufox wondered. Suddenly, his arm began acting up and then he vomited due to the withdrawal of the Aparoids' infection. He returned to his normal form and had vomited again.

----

"Serena!" The young tri-colored cat girl looked over at the squirrel running over toward her.

"Hello, Aron. What is it?"

"I heard that Kazufox came back, is that true?" The tired squirrel asked.

"Yes, he did come back. He's at home right now."

"How long though?"

"I'd say about three months."

"Man, I guess news around here is getting really slow, I mean three months?"

"Not really, you know that Kazu doesn't like to make himself stand out. He said that if everyone found out that he came back then everyone will want to see him and he won't have any peace."

"I see, so how's he doing?"

"To be honest, I don't really know."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, on the outside he seems okay but there's something bothering him but I don't know what."

"Would it be okay if I went to see him?"

"Sure, just try not to bother him too much."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Aron laughed, "Well, I'll see you later." As he walked on, he wasn't quite sure himself about the recent events that had happened. "Lots of strange things have been happening. First those bugs and now Kazufox came back? Something bad must've happened." Before the young man could continue, he was soon greeted by two familiar figures that he knew. One of them was a short mouse and the other was a tall horse. Both of which wearing the same dark uniforms as Thomas, but it had the Venomian symbol patched onto the arms.

"Well, well Aron, long time no see." Said the mouse.

"Not you two. What do you want?" Aron demanded.

"We came here for that girl you were just talking to." The horse answered.

"What do you want with her?"

"That's none of your business." The mouse hissed.

"I won't let you two slimeballs lay a finger on her." The squirrel said as her started glowing. A small chunk of the ground disappears and forms into three diamond shaped crystals that floated around Aron.

"Hehehehe. I wonder how much stronger he's gotten." The mouse laughed.

"I doubt if it was much at all." The horse added in.

----

Not too far away, Kazufox was outside training. The vulpine began to glow as he tried to form his second alter form but with no success. "Damn, those bugs must've done something to me. It's been three months and I still can form my alter! I don't like this, I feel like a sitting duck right about now." The fox was then surprised as he heard an explosion nearby. "Me and my big mouth!" Kazufox said as he ran to where the explosion occurred. He travels down the road and sees that the squirrel was beaten and bruised up.

"Hey, what happened?" Kazufox asked as he lifted up the squirrel.

"Kazufox? Don't worry about me." Aron said as he cringed in pain, "They've got Serena."

"Who? Who's got her!?" The fox asked but then heard some more explosions, "Nevermind, I know where they are!" Kazufox said as he rushed off to find his friend.

----

The mouse and the horse continued their rampage through where the homes local civilians were located, until Commander Thomas arrived on a platform with several masked alter soldiers. "Well? Have you found her?" asked the liger.

"Commander, sir! We've brought the girl." The horse reported.

"Excellent. Now let's go." The liger ordered. The two took the unconscious feline onto the platform and it started to ascend. Then they notice a vulpine chasing after them.

"Get back here!" The fox yelled out as the platform lifted higher and higher. He then formed his alter arm with three red blades, and his left eye sealed shut. The fox strikes the ground and flies up toward the liger. "Did you here me? Let Serena go!"

"Is that her name? Don't worry, I'll take good care of her." The liger calmly said.

"Shocking First Bullet!!" The fox then increased speed as he flew towards the them. The commander noticed the eager look on his two soldiers' faces and nodded for them to attack. The mouse formed lightning conductors on his shoulders and metallic gloves and boots while the horse formed a small tree like creature that stood on two roots as if feet and was wrapped around by its own vines. The tree creature shot out a barrage of leave blades. Kazufox continued upward trying to block the leaves even though his clothes get cut and even bleeds in other places the leaf blades sliced. Then the tree creature lashed out one of its vines at Kazufox and onto his leg. The mouse then shot a bolt of lightning at the tree, which transferred the shock all the way down the vine and hit Kazufox.

"Gaaaaaah!!" Kazufox screamed out, "That still won't stop me! Terminating Second Bullet!!" Kazufox then launched himself even faster and was soon over the group. He saw Serena being carried by the liger and decided to hit him. Just before he could attack, the liger just deflected the attack with one swipe. Taking advantage of the moment, the tree creature sent its vines to wrap around Kazufox and the mouse fired a supercharged lightning blast that sent Kazufox howling in pain flying downward.

"Damn you, give back Serena!" the fox asked the liger but was ignored, "Obliterating Last Bullet!!" Kazufox launched himself again but he was too far out of reach to do anything. "Serena!" The fox called out to his friend but could only watch helplessly as they disappeared in the distance. He was took weak to stand up and fell down on his knees hitting the ground cursing himself.

----

The fox had stowed away on a ship that went out into space on his own searching for the kidnappers. He didn't realize that the ship was property of Wolf O'Donnell. When the ship arrived at Sargasso, Kazufox made an attempt to try and sneak out and find Serena.

"Hey you!" One of the soldiers called out as he aimed his blaster right at Kazufox, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm here to see the one in charge here." Kazufox answered.

"Did you hear that? He wants to see the boss!" Another soldier laughed.

"I'm serious! Let me see your boss!" the vulpine angrily responded.

"Who do you think you are, kid? No one sees Lord O'Donnell unless he wants to see you. But I'll let him know that you want to see him while you spend time in timeout!" The soldier said as he pushed his blaster against Kazufox's back. The gun disappeared as Kazufox then formed his alter and took out the guard in one hit.

"Open fire!" The other soldier ordered.

The fox went on against the space pirates taking them out one by one while blocking their shots. The group of pirates soon surrounded the fox. Then everything went silent except for the sound of a few footsteps. Out of the crowd came the three members of Starwolf.

"Lord O'Donnell, sir. We captured this intruder."

Kazufox remained quiet as he kept his eye on Wolf. "_So this guy is the leader. He isn't the same guy I'm looking for but they both have the same badges._" He thought to himself.

"I heard someone was looking for me. Didn't expect it to be a kid." Wolf said as he examined the fox, "So what do you plan to do? Try to catch my bounty? Or did you come to challenge me to a battle against my Wolfen? If you think that just because you're a fox you could even put a scratch on my ship then you're wrong."

"I didn't come here for that. I'm here for a job."

At that, the soldiers started laughing and taunting the vulpine.

"Enough!" Wolf commanded, "I'm no babysitter. What makes you think that you're even worth my time?"

"Thought you might need some muscle to help you out." The fox said with a smirk on his face.

Wolf examined the fox closely before he would decide his answer. "Fine then. You will be under my command from this day forward. I hope you can handle yourself around here because no one's going to help you if you get hurt." Wolf said as he noticed the vulpine's left eye was sealed closed, "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you mean?" The fox asked innocently.

"Don't be cute! I mean your eye!"

"This? A little side effect from this arm here." The fox said as he then returned to his normal form.

"Humph, that had better be all that it is." Wolf said as he walked off with a surprised Leon and Panther. Wolf noticed some of the soldiers whispering to each other, "Well? What are you idiots waiting for? Somebody show him around. And would someone get him to the showers? He smells worst than Pigma."

"_Hey, at least I don't smell as bad as your breath._" Kazufox thought to himself.

The fox then felt a hard slap on the back. He quickly turned around and saw the alligator that hit him. He was a slightly lighter shade of green than some of the other reptilian pirates. He had on long dark pants with the cuffs on them cut, a gray grease stained t-shirt on, and two black wristbands. The gator was well over six foot, around 6'5" or so and he had large muscles especially in his arms and upper body area. "So, new guy. Welcome to the group!"

"And who are you?"

"Me? The name's Ralph. And I'll be showin you around."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Kazufox asked the suspicious gator.

"It takes a lot of guts to sneak aboard one of our ships and actually talk to O'Donnell like that." Ralph answered, "I mean, you're practically still in your diapers!"

"Dammit! I'm not a kid! I can handle that guy anytime!" Kazufox snapped.

"You're still a kid no matter how tough you act."

"You really like to piss me off, don't you?"

"It's funny watching you get so steamed over something as small as that. Hey, I know. I'll call you my little buddy."

"What? There's no way! I've got a name you know!" Kazufox yelled out at the gator.

"Bet you do, but I'm the one who's going to be responsible for showing you around so the least you could do is show a little respect. Little buddy." Ralph teased grinning.

"I'm not little!"

"You're shorter than me so I say you are."

"But you're taller than most of the others that are here."

"And your point is?"

"Nevermind." The fox sighed.

"Well now that that's done. Let me show you to some of the others." The gator laughed, "See that bird over there? His name is Shawn. He's a buddy of mine." Ralph pointed out towards the eagle, then sees a rabbit walking their way, but has somewhat of a scowl on his face. "Oh and this guy over here is Ronnie, another good friend."

"Hey Ronnie." The fox said extending a hand towards the white rabbit. The rabbit only glared at the young fox then walked away. "What's his problem?"

"You'll have to forgive Ronnie. No offense but he doesn't really trust foxes."

"Well that's too bad for him."

"Anyways, let me show you around to some of the other guys."

----

"Wolf, would you mind explaining to me why you let him join like that?" asked an impatient Leon.

"Leon, we hit the jackpot. That kid is an alter user." Wolf replied.

"Alter user?" Leon questioned.

"Didn't you know? Guess not. I'm not completely sure but I know that they have the ability to rearrange molecules to take a certain shape. They are extremely powerful. In fact, they are so strong that they are considered monsters or mutants. They are outcasts of society."

"How do you even know this?"

"I found out about these things when we worked for Andross."

"Andross? But why would he not tell us about these alter users?"

"Don't you see, Leon? He was afraid that we'd focus our attention on capturing alter users instead of trying to stop Starfox. Apparently he had quite a collection, but what he did with them. I have no idea. But he'd probably use them for his experiments."

"So we're just going to use that kid?"

"Precisely, all that kid really is though is a tool. And we'll use him until he is no longer of any use to us."

----

"_Two weeks…and I've reached only a dead end. Serena, wait for me. I'll save you, I promise…_" the vulpine thought to himself as his dream comes to an end.

"Hey, he's staring to wake up!" A voice cried out.

The young fox then awoke and found himself in a bed with bandages covering him. He looked around the room to see a green frog, a blue bird and two foxes, one was a male red fox like himself and the other was a blue female. The vulpine thought about how strange it was for a fox to have that color. He then noticed the male fox walking over to him.

"Hey there, my name is Fox McCloud. What's your name?"

"Me?" the young vulpine answered, "The name's Kazufox."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Fortuna Massacre

It was a starry night on planet Fortuna near an abandoned military base. Insects making their chirping noises all through the night, but was soon clouded out from rustling in the dense jungle. A Cornerian soldier dashes the darkness moving the bushes, vines and branches in his way. The canine soldier looks back to see if he is still being followed but hears nothing but the sounds of the bugs and him breathing hard. He sees that he is clear and decides to take a moment to catch his breath.

"…I've got to get to my ship." The soldier said to himself exhausted. He then heard some noises in the trees and then ducked into the bushes. Several footsteps were not too far behind him accompanied by vehicles with searchlights. Although he couldn't tell how many vehicles or soldiers were after him, he knew that at least one was enough. He waited as he heard the rustling of the leaves nearby. The sound became further and further away, but the greyhound suddenly felt something crawl on the back of his neck. He felt like jumping out of his fur, but he'd only let the others know where he was so he kept silent trying to shake whatever was on him off thinking that it was the enemy. He turned around and pulled out his blaster, but it wasn't anybody there. And he heard the loud chirping of some crickets.

"Damn bugs…" He thought to himself. The soldier turned back around with his fur drenched with sweat from the humidity and his late night run. He kept watching silently seeing nothing from the distance. The canine felt something graze his neck but ignored it thinking it was some mosquito or something. He then felt something was wrong, but whatever was on his neck had grabbed hold of him tightly. Suddenly another thing grabbed him from behind as well, this time wrapping itself around his waist and several more onto his ankles and dragged him forward out of the bushes. Then there were more that grabbed his arms. The soldier was struggling to break free but was unable to escape. He then stopped when the searchlights turned on and shined in his eyes.

"Hello there, Cornerian spy!" A voice called out. The dog soldier's eyes came into focus as he saw a leopard in a dark uniform with white on the front with several masked soldiers also in the same uniform. He looked over to see what was holding him, and saw large red hands. Each and every point of his body that was pinned to the ground was because of the strange floating hands. The hands then lifted his body up until he was at a vertical base.

"I know what you're planning! It won't work, you'll be stopped Venomian scum!"

The feline then punched the dog. "Bite your tongue, mutt! I suggest you get comfortable, because you're not going anywhere but back to the base."

"Wait! Tell me, who are you guys trying to bring back? Andrew or is it Andross?" The dog asked as the masked soldiers used the floating hands to drag him to the base.

"You're in no position to ask me anything except for me to spare your life. But how fortunate for you that our leader will decide your fate. Because, I would have you tortured to death otherwise."

----

"So they sent another one?" The liger asked sitting at the desk at his office, "Tell me, how much does he know?"

"Unfortunately, too much. He knows we're trying to revive Andross. But he's still oblivious to who we are. The fool thinks that we work for Starwolf now." Jetters responded over the monitor.

"Starwolf huh? Perhaps we could use this to our advantage."

"Commander, about the prisoner. May I have the pleasure of taking him out?"

"Don't, I have a use for him."

"Commander?" The leopard was confused, "He's just a natural! An enemy one at that, there's nothing really useful about him! He doesn't have any information we can use anyways!"

"Calm down Jetters. You need to plan ahead with this. You know of _our_ little project." The liger explained, "He'll be our first test subject in the experiment."

"You know what the results of the testing is don't you?" Jetters reminded, "There's a very minimal chance of survival, so why not just let me just crush him now?"

"Jetters, your desire to destroy them is commendable, but you need to have patience." Thomas said, "Even if he has little chances of surviving, you'll only get further in life through trial and error."

"My apologies commander."

"But with this spy, the Cornerians will probably send a squad to see what we've been doing. It's about time I pay a little visit over there then so we can move our plan along."

"Yes sir, Commander Thomas." The leopard soldier saluted, "I will be awaiting your arrival."

The half-breed nodded, "And another thing, don't call me commander anymore. Call me…general."

"Yes sir…General Thomas." The leopard said slightly hesitant as the line was then closed off and Thomas' screen went blank. The liger looked up liking his new title, even if it was only temporary. He then received a call and opened the channel, voice only.

"Yes, what is it?" Thomas asked.

"Commander Thomas sir, your shuttle is ready for departure." The voice said, which seemed one of a female.

"I'm on my way now. And one more thing, contact everyone and inform them to call me General Thomas from now on."

"Understood general." The voice answered.

----

Inside a Katinan base, a gray feline sits in the lounge room slumped over in her seat. The room, oddly enough, is set more like a bar than a real military lounge. A room where the lights were dim, stools by the counter, and even a bartender! A red furred bloodhound who used to own a bar before joining the military. Greyson tries to forget about her failure over protecting her ship. Her doctors had cleared her to return to duty, however, Colonel Summers would not put her back on any patrols and was to stay off duty until she was assigned a new ship.

"Well, look at this. The famous feline lieutenant that always manages to keep all her command ships from being destroyed in battle, lost a small cargo ship to just one intruder." A voice mocked. Greyson looked over with a dull blank stare at the old dog commander who said that. He was an old hound with brown fur, a darker complexion than General Pepper, but still noticeable. He had narrow eyes and for being in his early fifties, he looked healthy as if he was still forty. "I guess it's lucky that you have nine lives otherwise you'd be long gone. So what do you have to say about that?" The dog taunted.

"All I can say is that if you were there then the same thing would've happened to you," Greyson calmly and slowly replied, "except that it would've ended quicker."

"What was that?" The hound asked getting up from his seat angered.

"She's got you there, old timer." Said a hyena sitting nearby taking a sip of his drink. He was a lieutenant like Greyson. The hyena was well built for his age with a gray yellow fur with spots on it. He also had long black ears pointed on the top of his head.

"Oh yeah? And what would you know?" The hound shouted.

"Do you really think that if you couldn't beat Greyson then how could you possibly stop that intruder?" The dog's face started turning red with anger. "Listen, I don't mean any disrespect but, the Lylat War was a long while ago. And face it, your glory days of the war are over. You should really consider retirement." The hyena added.

"You think that I can't fight? You young soldiers are all alike, thinking that this is nothing more than just a game!"

"Then why don't you show me?" The hyena challenged as he took one last gulp of his drink and stood up. The other soldiers and commanding officers were watching expecting to see a fight start up, some cheering for the younger hyena while only a few were with the grumpy hound.

"That's enough, both of you! We're supposed to be on the same side. We should be fighting the enemy not each other, so knock it off!" Greyson scolded.

"This is just a waste of my time anyways." The dog scoffed as he stormed out of the room. The other soldiers went back to their tables and seats, some muttering who would've won that fight and how others wanted to see the old dog get socked in the face.

Greyson turned back to the hyena, "Listen, Derek. I appreciate your help but starting a fight about it isn't going to solve anything. So what if my perfect record was ruined, the important thing was the fact the nobody was killed."

"Sorry Jen, but it's just that guys like him are intimidated by you because of that and also the fact that well, you're a woman and also a feline. These old vets aren't used to that kind of thing even now." The hyena sighed.

"That's alright, I can handle myself. You just worry about yourself."

"Thanks." The other lieutenant said as he finished his drink, "Ahh, that's the good stuff! Well, it's about time I get back on duty. Take care, and Jen?" The gray cat nodded. "Think of this time off as a vacation and try not to do anything reckless, okay?" The hyena said as he left.

"Right, thanks." Greyson said trying to cheer up. As the hyena walked out, a rabbit soldier came up to him.

"Lieutenant Hudson, the colonel would like to see you."

"Uh oh, looks like I'm in trouble." Hudson groaned, "Alright, I'm going."

The hyena walked down the hallway until he reached Colonel Summers' office. He took a few deep breaths wondering what to expect next. Once he was ready, Hudson boldly walked into the office. "Colonel, sir. You wanted to see me?" Derek asked trying to stay cool.

"Yes, I have a new assignment for you." The wolf answered. The hyena gave a small sigh of relief. "Is there a problem?"

"Huh? Oh uh, it's nothing, proceed sir."

"Right, we've received reports that a Venomian class command ship has been spotted around Fortuna."

"Again? I thought we wiped them out."

"Apparently not, there must've been some troops in hiding that we somehow missed. Your mission is to track down the ship but you will not engage into combat. I repeat, you are _not_ to fight the ship until you've found the hole those rats are hiding in."

"So basically you want me and my group to just tail the ship and find them, right?"

"Precisely, find out as much as you can. And as soon as you discover the location of the base you will report in and we'll make a full-scale assault. Our forces will be ready in the general area on stand-by to back you up once you have found the location of their hidden base. It may be possible that Andrew is still alive and they're trying to create another rebellion."

"Why would they waste their time on someone as ignorant as Andrew? Especially after how Starfox..." The hyena stopped once he noticed Summers giving Derek a cold stare. "Sorry sir. But may I ask why I need to report back? Don't tell me that you doubt my abilities as a leader."

"No. It's just that with all the strange things that have happened lately, I'm not taking any chances. Once we find them, we can wipe out Andross' forces from the galaxy once and for all. I don't know what they're planning but be careful."

"Yes sir!" The hyena said giving a salute and then proceeded to leave. He was close to the exit until he heard the colonel call to him.

"By the way Derek, I appreciate what you did for Jennifer but try to stay out of trouble. I don't like dealing with Bryans as much as you, but watch your behavior."

"Uh, yes sir." The hyena bashfully acknowledged as he then hurried out the door.

----

At the Volstra space base, most of the damages had been fixed, however, the central computer system was severely damaged including their security systems. The elevators and lights were working at least. The thugs worked around the clock trying to fix the system, even Ralph and Shawn too as they were trying to fix up the ships that were damaged a little earlier.

"Man, this really sucks…" Shawn complained.

"Yeah, could be worst though." Ralph said wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"I still can't believe he managed to cause all this trouble all by himself."

The gator shrugged, "Who knew the kid was packin."

"Great, and he leaves all this mess just for us." The eagle moaned, "Lovely…" Ralph couldn't help but laugh a little, which only made Shawn sigh. It wasn't until a baboon pirate called out to them they stopped working.

"Hey! Ralph!" The white haired simian called, "The boss wants to see you in his office, pronto!"

"Huh? What does the boss want to see me for?" Ralph asked.

"Who knows, but he wants your scaly butt in there now!"

Ralph turned to Shawn who had a darkened look on his face. "I'll get Ronnie." Shawn said.

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"It's not like he plans on killing me," Ralph said, "else he'd showed up himself."

"I know, but I don't like this."

"I'll be back, don't sweat it." The gator said as he walked off. The avian was still in a bit of doubt, but then returned to work.

----

A small unit of Kantian battleships arrives around the orbit of the green planet of Fortuna. Hudson was in the flagship, taking note of the view. All he saw was the green planet, not too far out of reach and the sea of stars as well as a clear view of Solar's radiating light.

"Ah Fortuna, so many memories about this place." The hyena thought to himself remembering that not only did the Venom forces take control of one of their main bases, but also were unable to stop Andrew's rebellion on their own, "Not all good ones but still, a beautiful place to visit."

"Lieutenant, we've scanned the region and still haven't found the Venomian ship." A bulldog soldier reported.

"How's that possible? It couldn't have just disappeared." Hudson said in a serious tone. Then, the Venomian ship suddenly appears out of nowhere.

"Sir!" A female spitz soldier called out, "The ship is on radar!"

"A cloaking device, eh?" The hyena mused, "Stay alert, we'll watch to see what it does."

"Lieutenant?" Another soldier, this one a collie questioned.

"There's a chance they didn't notice us yet since they took off their cloaking device, so let's just stay put." They observe for a while that the ship is moving nowhere, just drifting in the planet's gravity. The ship all of a sudden starts deploying fighters.

"Damn. They _did_ spot us!" The hyena cursed, "Deploy the fighters!" The soldiers in the hangar bay were all prepared for combat. The launching deck was opened up sending a large number of fighters from each ship. "Be careful, we may outnumber them but they might have a trick up their sleeve."

----

"General Thomas, the fighters have been deployed as commanded." A dark furred fox soldier reported.

"Good, now then we wait." The liger calmly said watching the display of lasers and lights outside.

The Kantian fighters went into battle with the Venomian ships destroying them slowly one by one. Many Venomian ships, mainly Invader models, were being destroyed at a slow rate even as the battleship launched more and more fighters. The Katinan fighters then began to turn their attention towards the single battleship. They manage to cause only a small amount of damage to the ship so far, but it steadily increased. Some of the Katinans were shot down because they failed to pay attention to the next wave of Invader ships that were launched, but were soon on their way to taking control again. The battleship then took the opportunity starts trying to move away while still under fire.

"Now then, it's time for the real fireworks to begin." The liger said with an evil grin on his face as he rose from his seat. He closed his eyes and extended his arms outward. An ominous aura formed around the feline.

----

Ralph went up towards Wolf's office looking around to see if someone was watching. He did notice a few glares from other thugs that he knew, mainly ones that he didn't like. Ralph stopped outside of Wolf's office and knocked on the door.

"Get in here." A gruff voice ordered, no doubt Wolf's.

The gator went inside as ordered and noticed Wolf standing in front of his desk with Panther to the right with his arms crossed and looking like he was in a fowl mood, Leon was over on the left wall only observing with his usual cold stare.

"You wanted to see me boss?" Ralph asked.

"Sit." Wolf commanded pointing to a chair in the middle of the room. The gator sits down and is alone with the Starwolf members. He can't help but be a little nervous while Wolf paces back and forth. "You know why you're here, aren't you?" Wolf asked.

"No, I don't." The gator responded.

"The reason that you're here is because it was you that told the mechanics to remove the hyperdrive systems from our ships, correct?"

"Well, yeah I-" Before the gator could finish, he was knocked to the ground by a very angry Panther.

"You imbecile! Do you realize that your stupidity cost me my ship?!" The feline hissed out as he kicked the soldier.

"That's enough, Panther. I already said that we'll get you another Wolfen." Wolf said. Panther stopped kicking and took a few steps back letting the pirate breathe. "Now answer this, what made you decide to order this task?"

"Well, I did it because you're always flying around," Ralph coughed, "and I thought that it would help you if the hyperdrive systems were fully operational. I did it for you, Lord O'Donnell." Ralph strained a bit from being kicked hard in the stomach, but still managed to get back up.

"Was it for me? Or for that traitor?"

"What?" The thug asked acting surprised, "I did it for you. I was just concerned about your safety that's all. Wouldn't want to risk loosing our leader to those Cornerian dogs because of a little malfunction."

"I appreciate your concern, however, your actions come into question of your loyalty."

"But Lord O'Donnell, I'm loyal to only you, sir."

"I understand, soldier." Wolf said with a small grin on his face. Before Ralph knew what was going on, he felt a sharp pain enter his back. He hadn't noticed that Leon had come up from behind and stabbed him. The lizard didn't stop there. He started dragging the knife down slowly cutting the gator's thick skin. Ralph cried out in pain as his blood slowly pours out of him. Panther went back on his attack and punched the gator hard in his stomach. Ralph then fell to his knees after feeling another stab from behind and screamed out in pain. He then heard a pair of thick footsteps approaching and he looked up to find Wolf glaring at him with his real and cyber-eye.

"I didn't give you the order to touch my Wolfen and you are not to touch it unless I say so, understand?"

Ralph just nods his head slowly while cringing in pain.

"Good." Wolf said as two armored guards walked in, "Take this soldier out of here, I don't want him to spill blood all over my floor."

The two soldiers nodded as they grabbed the gator's arms and him, not even giving him a chance to stand, out of the room. Two trails of blood started pouring out from the stab wounds, on each side of Ralph's back aimed on close around his spinal area but enough just to avoid the lungs.

"You know he's working with the kid." Leon said.

"I know but just to be sure, I'll test him."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"There's been some activity I've detected going on around Fortuna." Wolf said in a calmer tone, "I'll bring him along. If he is working with that brat then I'll take care of him personally."

"It could be just some lost soldiers wanting to join us." Panther mentioned.

"Could be, but we can always use some extra help." Wolf said, "And there's also the possibility f finding some useful supplies there. As soon as the ships are ready, we'll take a group with us and head over there."

----

After the gator was dragged off into another hallway, the two guards just dropped the gator on his face. Ralph laid there still in pain bleeding at a slow steady rate. The reptile tried getting up, but that only made the bleeding even worst, he was able to pick himself up to one foot. It wasn't much later when Ronnie had came up to find where the gator was and saw Ralph in his condition. The rabbit hurries over to help him up.

"Hey Ralph, are you alright?" The rabbit asked showing slight concern in his usual monotonic voice.

"Yeah, thanks Ronnie." Ralph answered weakly.

"What happened?"

"Had a little private meeting with O'Donnell and his team." The gator said as he tried to stand on his own.

"You're only making things worst." Ronnie said trying to walk the gator to his room. About a minute later, the light brown-feathered eagle ran on over to the two.

"Ralph! Are you okay?" Shawn asked trying to catch his breath.

"Don't sweat it," Ralph chuckled, "I told you I wasn't going to die yet."

"Stop talking, you need to save your energy." The rabbit said, "Shawn, I'll need some help with him." Shawn went to the other side of the reptile and helped walk him as well. The two each had the large gator's arms over their shoulders for support. Ralph winced in pain as he bled a little more forming a small red puddle on the floor.

"Easy big guy," Shawn assured, "We'll get you some help."

"Ralph, why did the boss want to see you in the first place?" Asked the rabbit. He only got a few groans, "I bet it was about that fox." The gator nodded slowly. "I knew that punk was nothing but trouble since he got here. I don't know what Wolf was thinking letting him stay. We should've gotten rid of him when we had the chance. Let's just hope that the traitor got what he deserves."

"Yeah, I bet he's rotting in some Cornerian prison right now." Shawn said trying to force a laugh.

----

The Venomian battleship was beginning to take some heavy damage as burn marks have just about covered the once scarlet colored vessel. It had stopped deploying fighters and the ones already out were nearly all wiped out as the Katinan ships continued their attack on the main ship.

"The shields on the enemy ship are dropping at a steadily increasing rate. We have them now." One pilot reported.

"Lieutenant, we're winning!" The bulldog soldier exclaimed, "They don't stand a chance against us."

"_He's right, this is almost too easy._" Hudson thought, "_And they haven't even called in for reinforcements. Could this be a trap?_"

"Lieutenant! There's a strange energy surge!" A husky from one of the other battleships reported.

"Where is it coming from?"

"It's coming from Solar!"

"What!?" Hudson shouted out shocked, "Solar? You're sure?"

"Yes sir, it's-aaaaaahh!!" The connection was cut off as a powerful shower of energy from Solar destroyed the ship.

"Sir! He's right!" The spitz informed as her controls were sounding an alarm, "Intense heat energy from Solar is being detected all around this area!"

"No…" Hudson gasped, "Dammit, it was a trap! All ships retreat! I repeat, all ships retreat!" The hyena ordered but it was too late. The fighter ships exploded one after the other because of a shower of energy bursts from Solar. Then in the same manner, the Kantian battleships were being destroyed by the same attack as the beams of light cut through each battleship making swiss cheese out of each of them. There was only one option for the hyena.

"Contact the enemy ship, now!" Hudson ordered reluctantly. He knew that there was no point in continuing, since it would only be a waste to sacrifice more soldiers unnecessarily. The collie soldier opened a communication channel with the enemy ship successfully making contact. "Attention Venomian vessel, cease fire. We surrender. Call of your attack." Hudson proclaimed. The crew went silent and so did the lieutenant awaiting for another message in return. However, all they had for an answer was another explosion from the other ships. Hudson looked on in shock seeing the ship and its crew fall victim to their new weapon. The hyena grew angry and jumped over to the controls where the collie was stationed, "I said we give up! What the hell was that all about!?"

"My apologies about that but," Said the return message, "we can't afford any eyewitnesses after this little performance."

"But we surrendered! You can't!" Hudson shouted.

"Watch me."

At that, several more battleships were destroyed. Derek knew it was over and did one last thing. He had to tell the others, to let them know such a powerful and destructive weapon was out there and could possibly destroy not only the entire Cornerian army, but Corneria as well if they intended to make an attack there. "This is Lieutenant Derek Hudson. There are Venomian troops located on Fortuna, I repeat there are Venomian troops located on Fortuna and they have a weapon that controls energy from Solar, I repeat! They have a weapon that-gaaaaaah!!"

The transmission was cut off as the lead ship was showed by one final barrage of light, and bursted into another light in space leaving only a trail of parts.

----

"General Thomas, it's over! They are all wiped out. General?" The vulpine soldier looks over to the exhausted general, "Sir, are you alright?"

"I'll…be fine. Now turn this ship around…and get us out of here..." Thomas said as he tried to catch his breath and his fur glistened with sweat, "Contact Jetters!"

On the screen was the image of the leopard, "What can I do for you, General Thomas?" Jetters then notices that the liger is worn out, "You've used your alter to the limit again haven't you?"

"Don't worry about me…I'll be fine..." The liger said as he strained stand up. "Begin the next stage of the plan…The rest of how things go is now up to you…" The liger said as he strained to get up and leave, "Don't disappoint me Jetters."

"I won't fail you general." Jetters assured as the connection was ended.

"General, will you need some assistance?" An owl soldier asked.

"No…concentrate on getting us out of here, now…The engines have taken some damage and we don't know…how soon those dogs will get here..." Thomas explained as he limped out of the room holding his left side still breathing hard.

The Venomian battleship activates the cloaking device then left the region undetected. The liger then reached a dark room, he turned on the light showing an empty capsule similar to that he found the others in. Thomas limps over towards the capsule and opens the hatch on it. The general then crawled in, still in uniform, and put on his oxygen mask as the capsule started filling up.

"_We must avoid being discovered while things run in full motion otherwise…the plan everything I've worked towards will be ruined…_"

----

"Yes sir, general. The operation was a complete failure." Colonel Summers reported.

"Tell me. How many casualties were there." Asked General Pepper over a secured line.

"There were at least two-hundred, including Lieutenant Hudson."

The general gave a deep sigh after hearing the news. "Colonel, I'm sorry for the loss. I'm sending over the Starfox team."

"But sir, why do we need their help?" The wolf asked surprised.

"We don't have any other choice. This is something we cannot handle on our own. Now, I trust that you'll brief them in on everything that's going on."

"Yes sir, General Pepper, sir." Summers answered.

The line was then ended. The wolf wasn't too happy about calling in Starfox. The doors opened and Greyson entered the office not in her usual cheerful mood.

"Colonel Summers, I request permission to take over the mission Lieutenant Hudson never finished."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." The colonel solemnly answered.

"If this is about what happened about the ship raid then you don't have to worry about me. I'm better now, I can handle this mission."

"This isn't about you. And even if I wanted to send you, I can't. It seems that our dear general has given up on us and has once again called in the Starfox team instead." Summers said as he turned in his chair away from the feline.

"Don't say that. The general is concerned about what's best for everyone."

"This army is supposed to protect our _own_ people. But we fail at every big thing that comes our way. And who do we have to rely on? A bunch of mercs. And it's just four of them!" Summers said with a hint of anger in his voice, "It just makes me sick knowing that children sleep soundly at night thinking that a group of mercenaries will protect them."

"Wesley, I can understand how you feel. But we still don't give up. If it wasn't for us then not even Starfox could've survived the assault on the Aparoid home world."

"I know. Yet, I still feel useless. But an order is an order and when those mercs. call, then I'll inform them of the mission."

----

"So Fox, what do we do now?" Falco asked.

"We already tried checking his name through the records and Slippy is still analyzing that blaster he has, so until he wakes up, there's nothing more we can do right now." Fox explained.

"But his name doesn't even show up on the records!" The falcon complained, "This guy is probably lying. For all we know, he could be a spy."

"Would Wolf really go through the trouble of destroying one of his own ships?" Asked Krystal.

"You don't know Wolf like we do. He'll do anything to get us, even if it means using kids like him."

"We don't know that yet, Falco. When he wakes up, we'll ask." Fox said.

"I believe he's starting to wake up." Announced Krystal. Fox and Krystal then enter the room where the young fox is resting.

"That was a good nap." The fox said as he started stretching.

"How are you feeling?" Fox asked.

"Well, my head hurts a little and I still feel a bit worn out. But I can at least get up." Kazufox said as he tried to get out of bed. He stopped when he heard his clothes starting to rip. "Great, just what I needed."

"Don't worry." Assured Krystal with a slight giggle, "We brought you a change of clothes."

"Um…thanks." Kazufox said as Krystal handed him a spare change of clothes. A pair of metal boots, a green flight suit, a red scarf, gray gloves, and a white jacket.

"We'll be outside while you change." Fox said as he and Krystal left the room to rejoin the avian waiting.

"I still don't trust him."

"You haven't even given him a chance, Falco." Krystal protested.

"Yeah Falco, what's the deal?" Fox asked.

"Call it a hunch but, there's something not right about that kid." The bird explained, "And tell me again why we aren't questioning him right now?"

"How would you feel if you were being questioned while in bed and your pants ripped?" Fox asked with a smirk on his face.

"I mean besides that!" The flustered avian yelled.

"Because he's had a large strain on his mind. It's so severe that if we start questioning him now, we may be putting his life in danger." Answered Krystal.

"Just what are you getting at here anyways?" Fox asked.

"I'm just saying, that isn't it just a little strange how that kid managed to escape Starwolf _and_ with one of their own ships? And that gun of his isn't even registered."

Before Fox could say anything, they all heard the young vulpine scream out. At that, all three of them rushed into the room and find Kazufox searching around the room for something while cursing.

"Dammit, where is it!?"

"What's wrong!?" Fox asked.

The young fox then stopped searching since he didn't realize that Fox and the others had heard him.

"Well?" Falco asked impatiently, "What is it already?"

"Uh…did you guys happen to find an old scratched up blaster when you guys found me?" Kazufox asked shyly.

Fox breathed a sigh of relief, "We have it safe. Don't worry we're not going to let anyone take it or anything. But since you're up, we have a few questions to ask you-"

"Incoming message," interrupted ROB, "from General Pepper."

"Perfect timing." Falco said sarcastically.

"_Tell me about it._" The young vulpine thought to himself slightly relieved.

"We'll be there in a minute. We need someone to watch over our guest." Fox said.

"Hey, I don't need a babysitter!" The young vulpine complained.

"I was thinking more like a tour guide. Falco, would you like to do the honors?"

"Me?" Falco asked surprised, "What about Krystal? I mean since she was new and all, wouldn't it make sense?"

"Fine, I'll do it." Agreed Krystal.

"But, but-" Fox stammered.

"We better get _ours_ to the bridge." Falco said as he starts pulling Fox along, "Pepper's still waiting on us."

"Are things always this fun around here?" Kazufox asked.

"Not really. Usually on busy days like this." Krystal answered.

----

Fox and Falco make their way to the bridge however Falco is still upset.

"Fox, if we're supposed to be questioning him then why are we giving that guy a tour of our ship?" Falco asked impatiently.

"Falco, he just barely survived being attacked by Wolf. You heard Krystal say that his brain was pushed to nearly its limits. He's had enough trouble for one day."

"Yeah sure, listen to her. But why the tour?"

"Because, if we can gain his trust then he'll tell us what happened on his own free will. We don't know what Wolf did or if it was Wolf, but if we start interrogating him right away then he wouldn't tell us anything."

"Then we could scare the information out of him."

"And how much better would we be from Wolf if we did? You're just gonna have to get used to him being here a while."

"What are you talking about? Don't tell me, he's joining us?" The avian stopped walking asking surprised.

"I guess you could say that since he still has valuable information. And maybe he could tell us a little about that blaster of his."

"That's why?" Falco questioned as he started walking at a quicker pace, "Gee, why don't we just throw a big party for him while we're at it!"

The two entered into the bridge and see General Pepper's image on the monitor.

"General, you're looking a lot better." Fox greeted.

"Thank you Fox, but I've been better. The reason I called is because I have a mission for you."

"Go on general."

"There was an incident around Fortuna that wiped out a unit of Katinan ships." The hound informed. He then noticed a small look of concern on Fox's face. "No, Bill was not in that attack if that's what you're thinking." Fox's face relaxed a bit showing a sign of relief.

"Okay, so we just need to head to Fortuna and find out what's going on right?" Asked Falco.

"Yes, however you will head to Katina instead. There, you will meet with Colonel Summers. He will inform you on all the details."

"Understood general." Fox boldly answered.

"Good luck Starfox and…be careful." The old hound said before the transmission ended.

"What was that all about?" Falco asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Fox! Fox, are you there?" Slippy's voice called out over Fox's communicator.

"What is it Slippy?"

"You know that blaster that guy had? I tried a few different scans on it but I wasn't able to find out anything. I tried to take it apart but that didn't work either. It wasn't until I checked for radiation on it and I got energy readings off the scale!"

"What!" Falco squawked.

"How bad is the radiation?"

"It's harmless while its trapped inside the gun but I can't find out anything else. I'll have to send it to my dad to find out what it is."

"Thanks Slippy." Fox said as he cut off the communication line.

"Now what?"

"Looks like Peppy is gonna have to wait." Fox sighed, "ROB, set a course for Katina."

----

"Have you found anything?" Asked Wolf.

"Nothing yet sir." A reptilian pirate reported.

"Well keep searching!" Wolf ordered as he flew around with Leon and Panther in their Wolfens searching for the lost Venomian base on Fortuna. Wolf had brought along a few carrier ships so they can haul off anything they can get their hands on in one trip. A group of space pirates that went with them, including Ralph, were searching the trees below. "_Where is it?_" Wolf thought to himself. "Leon, you said that you detected the signal came from this area, right?"

"Yes, it's somewhere around here." The lizard responded. The ships continued flying around only found nothing through dense jungle. The search party below had no luck either.

"Ronnie, you find anything?" Ralph asked.

"Sorry, I've got nothing." The rabbit answered.

"This is hopeless." Complained a dark gray jackrabbit.

"Quit your complaining and keep searching!" Shawn exclaimed.

Panther flew by the group and overheard their conversation. He just shook his head and laughed to himself. "How useless." Panther then noticed something on radar. "Ah ha, so that's where you are." The feline said to himself with a small grin, "Wolf, I found the location of the base."

"Good work Panther. Send the information to the search party."

----

"So this thing is called the 'Great Fox'?" Kazufox asked as he walked down the halls following Krystal.

"You act like you've never heard of it."

"No, I've heard about it but I never thought that I'd actually be in it."

Krystal soon stopped and looked back at the fox.

"Um, what is it?" Kazufox asked cautiously.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how cute you look in that uniform." Krystal answered with a smile. Although she was really thinking about how good Fox looked dressed in it. She heard Kazufox groan when he heard that remark about him. "What's wrong?"

"'Cute' wasn't exactly the word I was looking for."

"Then what word were you looking for?"

"Ah forget it." Kazufox sighed as they continued the tour of the ship. "So you said your name was…"

"It's Krystal."

"Right, sorry. I'm not too good with names. Falcon mentioned that you're new right?"

Krystal giggles, "His name is Falco."

"Well, I was close."

"And yes, you could say that I'm the newest but the guys know better than to try anything stupid. But I'm a little curious about you. Could you tell me about what happened to you?" Krystal asked sincerely.

"Well, I don't remember much…" The fox said scratching his head.

"Could you try to remember?"

"Well, I remember being captured by them and then when I made it out. I was in a Wolfen and I was chased around by a bunch of ships. I guess I must've hit some hyper jump button or something."

"I'm a little surprised that you know about their ships like that."

"The Wolfens? Well, uh, I know a few guys that know stuff like that, yeah." Kazufox lied, "They liked looking up stuff about how fighter planes worked and stuff. Real nerds."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Slippy is very smart and we get along. But it's a little different when it comes to him and Falco, but that's how friends are sometimes."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Speaking of friends, is Kite a friend of yours?"

"Why would you ask something like that?"

"Because that blaster of yours had Kite's name on the side and I thought you two might have friends."

"Yeah, he was my best friend." Kazufox said solemnly.

"You said 'was'. Did something happen?"

"No. No, it's nothing."

"We're here."

"Hm? Where?"

"Your room. This is where you'll be staying."

"Wow, that tour went by faster than I thought." Kazufox said as he entered the room and sat on the bed. "A guy could get used to this."

"If you need anything then don't hesitate to ask."

"Nah, I'm good."

"Kazufox. About asking about asking about Kite, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. But there is one thing. About my blaster, when can I have it back?"

"I'm not sure how soon."

"Could you just make sure that I get it back?"

"I'll see what I can do." Krystal promised.

----

"We have arrived on Katina." ROB said over the intercom.

"Okay team, let's go." Fox said enthusiastically. The team started to leave except for one.

"Hey Kazufox, are you coming?" Slippy asked.

"Nah, there's nothing to do there." Kazufox answered.

"Aw, come on. It'll be fun." Slippy said as he pulled on Kazufox's sleeves.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Stop pulling already."

The five exited from the Great Fox into the hangar of the Katinan base. The team took a look around them seeing plenty of command ships being worked on and repaired.

"So this is the base where that Summers guy is?" Falco asked.

"This is the place." Fox answered.

"Oh, Starfox. You've arrived." Greeted a black furred dog soldier with tan around his muzzle, shepherd breed, "Please, follow me and I'll take you to Colonel Summers' office." The group followed the soldier into the large base. They keep walking for a few minutes until the soldier then stops in front of a door. "Here we are." The canine said as he opened the door and entered, "Colonel, Starfox is here."

"Thank you, that will be all." Summers said as he turned in his chair to see the mercenary team and their guest. The soldier gave a salute before leaving the room. "Welcome back to Katina, Starfox team." The wolf said as he rose from his seat and walked over to the team. He then noticed a fox wearing the team's old uniform. "I see you have a new addition to the team."

"Him? Oh, uh, he's just a relative." Fox excused, "My cousin."

"Really?" Summers said raising an eyebrow as he walked over to Kazufox, "Mind if I took a look at your arm?"

"What?" Kazufox asked blinking in surprise.

"Don't worry, this is just a quick checkup."

"Uh…sure I guess." Kazufox said extending his left arm.

"I mean the right one. I mean you _are_ right handed, correct?"

"Yeah." The fox nervously replied extending his right arm. The wolf took hold of the wrist and started poking and tugging on the vulpine's fur. The rest of the team looked at each other wondering what was going on all confused by the wolf.

"Colonel, may I ask what's the point of all this?" Fox asked.

"There have been some reports of a new illness that infects the young adult population. And the signs can be found in the person's writing arm."

"Then shouldn't you send him to the infirmary?"

"Don't worry, it doesn't take long." Summers said as he continued his examination, If there isn't some kind of stiffness or hardness found on the limb, he's okay."

"Hey! Are you just gonna poke at his arm all day or what?" Falco yelled out impatiently, "In case you didn't remember we have a job to do and we can't go anywhere until you give us some information!"

The colonel releases the arm. "Forgive me. Can't be too careful though. Now about your mission, I'd prefer to speak to Fox about it. In private."

"What's wrong with _all_ of us being here?" Falco questioned.

"Think of it as a safety precaution, but that's up to your leader to decide."

"Okay." Fox agreed, "I'll meet up with you guys later."

"The guard outside will show you to the place you can wait." Summers said as he watched as Slippy, Kazufox and Krystal then left the room. He noticed that Falco didn't leave. "You're not going?" He asked.

"Nah, I think I'll hang around in here for a while." Falco replied with a smug look on his face.

Summers looks over at Fox nodding his head. "Very well, now down to business." The wolf said as he went back to his seat, "As you know, we made an attack on a Venomian battleship. Unfortunately, the attack was a failure. Apparently, the ships were destroyed because of a barrage of shots. Fired directly from Solar itself."

"Solar?" Fox asked shocked.

"Are you serious!?" Falco questioned also shocked by the news.

Summers nodded, "I'm afraid so."

"Okay, so all we gotta do is take care of the thing on Solar and we've got them."

The wolf shakes his head, "That won't work. We already sent a team to check but they didn't find anything."

"So what you're saying is…it's as if Solar itself attacked?" Fox asked.

"According to our scientists, it looks more like the energy was drawn from the surface of the star."

"So what exactly can we do?" Falco asked getting impatient again.

"We believe that there is a hidden Venomian base still active on Fortuna and it may contain the weapon that controls Solar's surface. The Great Fox won't be able to reach the planet because of its size. However, your Arwings should slip in undetected by the device. We've also received word from Corneria that they sent a spy in that area but lost contact a while ago. But thanks to him, we know the general area the base is located but where we don't know. Your mission is to take it out, understood?"

"Yes colonel." Fox answered, "But could you tell me the reason you wanted to see Kazufox's arm?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the _real_ reason. There is no disease is there?"

"I suppose you got me there. However, I can't tell you."

"What! Why not?" Falco questioned getting annoyed.

"Because it's classified information."

"But what if it deals with our mission?"

"That's enough Falco." Fox said.

"But Fox."

"You should listen to him." Summers said, "Your ship should be refueled and restocked so you will leave immediately."

"Yes sir." Fox said before he left the room and Falco followed.

"_Kazufox huh? Could he really be the kid that attacked all those ships? But his arm, it couldn't be._" The wolf thought to himself, "_Well, if anything I should at least see to their departure._"

----

"Classified my beak!" Falco shouted as he walked down the hallway, "Wanting to take a look at that Kazu-kid's arm like that and not even telling us why. What a freak! That guy is so full of himself, wouldn't you agree?"

"Hm?" Fox looked up, "Yeah, sure." He glumly responded.

"You weren't listening to a single word I said!"

"Sorry Falco." Fox apologized, "What were you saying?"

"Ah forget it, there's something bothering you. What is it?"

"It's nothing."

"Fox, I know you better than that. Something's bothering you, so what is it?"

Fox then stopped walking and looked down. "Falco, you and I both know who would be able to create a weapon like that."

"You mean Andross right? There's no way. We wasted him a long time ago. We saw him die, there was nothing left."

"I know but…"

"But what?"

"He came back before so…how do we even know that he's even dead to begin with? What if all those times I fought him it was just a fake, a copy?"

"Fox, you worry too much." Falco said as he put his wing on Fox's shoulder, "And even if by the smallest chance he is alive, we'll still take him down. Fox, you've got to remember, you're not alone in this."

"You're right. Thanks Falco."

----

The two finally met up with the others but they were a little surprised. They find out the lounge area had more of a bar setup. Slippy was telling Kazufox stories about some of the stupid things Falco did while Krystal sat to the side and was also listening in.

"Aw man, I didn't know they had a bar here." Falco said while looking around the room.

"Oh. You're back." Krystal smiled.

"Hey team, hope you guys enjoyed yourselves." Fox said.

"So when do we leave?" Asked Kazufox.

"Right now actually. I'll explain our mission on the ship."

"Good, the sooner the better." Kazufox said as he exited the room.

"He's in a hurry to leave." Falco noted, "But then again, I would too if some weirdo was touching me."

----

The group walked down the halls heading to the Great Fox. The group passes by a few soldiers that happen to notice the younger fox and wonder what he was doing with the Starfox team, mainly a dalmatian soldier. As the group continued walking, a familiar voice calls out to them.

"Fox! Hey Fox!" Fox looks behind him to find out who's calling him. He's surprised to see who it is. "Bill!"

"Long time no see, eh Foxie?" Bill said as he ran trying to catch up.

"Bill, when did you get here?"

"A little while ago. Hey everyone!"

"Hey Bill." Falco said.

"Hiya Bill!" Slippy exclaimed.

"Hello Bill." Greeted Krystal.

"Well, I see you guys have a new teammate."

"Yeah, he's my cousin."

"You sure?" Bill asked as he took a closer look at Kazufox, "Hmm, funny, he doesn't really look anything like you except the clothes."

"What are you doing over here anyways?"

"I heard that you guys have another mission and I wanted to at least meet up with you before you left. And also maybe I could provide an escort."

"I appreciate the offer Bill, but no thanks."

"Aw, Come on Fox! You're bumming me out!" Bill said disappointingly.

"Psst, Slippy." Kazufox whispered, "What's the deal with this guy and how does he know Fox?"

"That's Bill. He and Fox go way back." Slippy answered.

"So they're friends?"

"Yeah, they've been friends since Fox was a kid."

"That must've been a long time." Kazufox said sounding a little down.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." Fox and Bill continued talking. Soon enough, they all went down to the hangar except for Kazufox. "Friends huh?"

----

"What the hell are you doing here?" Asked a desert coyote. Kazufox was in a small house cluttered with junk and some papers sitting in a chair. It was a scorching hot out so several fans were turned on causing the papers to flutter.

"I'm sitting." Kazufox said as he leaned back in the chair, "What else does it look like I'm doing?"

"Well besides breaking and entering my house, being a lazy bum."

"What!? Hey, I came in through the front door just like everyone else, well except _you_ of course."

"You're still upset about that? Hey wait, I had the door locked so how did you…?" The coyote's eyes narrowed at Kazufox, "Tell me you didn't do what I think you did."

"Well, you see…Heh, heh." The vulpine laughed nervously.

The coyote looks around the corner and sees the broken door hanging wide open. "You idiot! You broke down my door!"

"Sorry, I thought it was jammed."

"It's locked for a reason! I don't believe this, how dense can you be?"

"Hey I said 'sorry'."

The coyote blankly stares at the fox. "Normally I'd be yelling at you for a long time but today, I'm actually in a good mood."

"You needed a new door after all?"

"No!!"

"Then why else…" Kazufox gasped, "Kite, you actually found a girlfriend?"

"No…" Kite said while trying to keep a smile and not throw something at the fox, "But that may change with this baby!" He said as he pulled out a platinum armored blaster. "Pretty cool huh?"

"Wow, looks expensive but I don't really get how that's gonna help you get any girls."

"Kazu, Kazu, Kazu." Kite said waving his finger. "You think way too small, you need to see the big picture."

"Then why don't you paint it for me then _Mr. Artiest_?"

"Okay, as you know the ladies love a man of action and _I_ happen to fit that description."

"Pfft, as if. The only action you're in is driving and collecting money."

"May I finish…?" The coyote asked started to get a little agitated. He sees the fox nod. "Anyways, what is one very important factor that the girls pay attention to besides how the hero is dressed? It's the weapon he carries. It doesn't matter how cool the guy looks if his weapon is lame. But if _it_ looks cool and the guy is dressed cool, then the guy using it _is_ cool. It's simple logic really." Kazufox looks at Kite with a confused look on his face. "Look, I don't expect _you_ to understand. You'd just rather worry about how to blow stuff up with your alter than care about how you look doing it, but that's okay. After all, the girls will be too distracted watching me in action."

"Ooh, Kite. You're so cool." Kazufox said in a girlish tone.

"You better believe it!" Kite laughed. Then both of them started laughing until Kazufox put Kite in a headlock.

"Alright, how much of my hard earned money did you spend _this_ time you greedy little bastard?" The fox demanded.

"Didn't…spend…free!" The coyote managed to cough out.

"What?" Kazufox said letting go of his friend's head.

"Yeah…" Kite coughed, "…I found it lying on my doorstep this morning."

"No way. That thing?"

"Yeah, but this is the strangest part." Kite said as he showed Kazufox the gun. On the side of the barrel was engraved the words 'To Kite' on it.

"Weird. So what are you going to do with it?"

"Well…Since it was just lying on my doorstep, it has Kite's name on it and I happen to _be_ Kite….I'll just hold onto it until the owner comes by to…pick it up."

Kazufox stared at the coyote with a blank look, "You mean buy it back?"

"Think of it as being paid for…babysitting."

"You greedy worm, you never change. The next thing you'll do is probably find some matching clothes."

"That's a great idea! You really do understand." Kite said as he rubbed his face on the blaster, "So smooth and shiny. I'll never let anyone take you, no I won't, no I won't."

"Ugh, don't make me gag."

----

"Hey Kazufox!" Slippy called out. Kazufox then snapped out of his thought seeing Slippy and Falco down the hallway.

"Hey kid, wake up. You coming or not?" Falco asked.

"Uh, sure. I'm coming." Kazufox said as he ran over toward the others, "And I'm not a kid!"

----

"God, I hate paperwork." Greyson said as she walked down a hallway, "I could really use a drink." Just then she stopped as she saw Kazufox running across the hall. "Was that? It couldn't have been." The feline gasped, "Could it? Maybe I just need to lie down." She ran over to the next hallway just to check to be sure. Greyson found the hallway empty except for a few soldiers. "_Am I going crazy? I could've sworn that was the same guy that attacked my ship._" She thought to herself. "You, soldier!" She called out to one of the guards.

"Yes lieutenant?" The young beagle soldier answered.

"Was there a fox kid that came by this area?"

Uh, yeah. There was a fox guy that did seem kinda young."

"What color was his hair?"

"His what?"

"His hair!"

"Um, brown, red somewhere in between, why?"

"Which direction was he heading towards?"

"Uh, the hangar. Is something wrong?"

"Go find the colonel and let him know I found our little ship raider."

"Wait, you mean that guy was the one responsible for attacking all our ships?" The other soldier, a spaniel asked.

"There's no time to explain, go find the colonel and tell him!"

"Tell me what?" Summers asked walking up from behind.

"Wesley, the same guy that attacked my ship. He's here, I know it!"

"Jen, calm down. You're overreacting. You just need some rest."

"But Wes, it _was_ him! That young fox, that's the guy!"

"Calm down, I met with him and I did check his arm and everything was normal. Maybe you saw someone that looks like him."

"Since when have you known me to have bad eyes?" Greyson glared, "And I told you that the two that found him said that his arm seemed normal, remember? For all we know he could be one of Andross' experiments that Starwolf found."

"Or Starfox…" The wolf said with a worried look on his face.

"What?"

"Come on, we need to get to the hangar. You two, you're coming with us." The colonel ordered, "And try to contact the guards. We can't let that ship leave!"

The two soldiers looked at each other and then nodded. The four ran as fast as they could trying to reach the hangar. When they finally got there it was too late. The Great Fox had already taken off.

"Dammit!" The feline cursed.

"I'm sorry sir. When we received the order to stop them it was too late." One of the mechanics said.

"Should we pursue them sir?" Asked the spaniel asked.

"No. Did anyone try contacting them?" Summers asked.

"We're trying to." Another mechanic replied.

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't contact them. If they find out we're after them then they'll try to run."

"So we're just going to let them walk out like that?" The feline hissed.

It's too dangerous to try and take them down on our own. And even if we succeed, Pepper will find a way to get them out and have me locked up for treason. I need to contact Pepper before we can do anything to them." Summers said as he turned toward Greyson. "Jennifer, I had him in my grasp and yet, I let him go and I can't forgive myself for that. But the last thing I intend to do is let them get away with it. Just be patient."

Greyson looked up at the ship was only but a small spec in the sky and gave a sigh, "I suppose that's all we can really do right now."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Wolf's New Army

The Starwolf team regrouped with the thugs waiting outside the base after landing the Wolfens in an area concealed by the trees along with one of their carriers. Only twelve of the space pirates were to go examine the base including Ralph and Ronnie. The others waited outside guarding the ships.

"Boss, the area's clear." Reported an ape soldier.

"Good, let's move in." Wolf ordered as he entered the base first. They all looked around the building finding out that it is mainly just one large room with an upper level with the railing just barley there. The walls had holes and were mostly covered in vines and showed obvious signs of rusting. The only thing that seemed intact was the main computer.

"Man, what a dump." A canine pirate spoke.

Panther walked over to the computer and wiped his finger on the side of it. "How positively filthy!" The feline exclaimed quickly shaking his paw trying to get the dust off his glove.

"Everyone, look around and see what's generating that signal." Wolf commanded. The pirates went around searching the base. A couple of minutes had past, some found some working parts while others found nothing but junk.

"Lord O'Donnell, sir. This is all the parts we found." Ronnie informed.

"What? That's not nearly enough parts to send a transmission to a phone let alone our base. Keep searching!"

"This place is a bunch of garbage." Leon commented, "But it's still had to believe that this place is still functioning."

"You're right." Wolf agreed, "Everyone, search every corner of this room. Search the walls if you have to." At that, the space pirates began searching every corner and shadow in the room. A few were on the ledge on the higher level, while some were even on the walls searching. One of the thugs, a careless ape, nearly fell off the decayed crumbling ledge, but he managed to hold on. Wolf glared at the simian for his stupidity. The others continued their search. Ralph was one of the ones at the wall on the bottom floor. He kept moving along and knocking on the wall until he heard a hollow metal sound.

"Hey, I found something." Ralph called out.

Panther went over to see what it was. The feline checked it, moving his hands around the hollowed area feeling a small hinge on each side. "Wolf, this is a door." Panther said.

"A door? Open it." Wolf said.

"You heard him." Panther said looking back at the gator, "Open it." Ralph turned and started to pull on the door trying to pry it open.

"Hey, I could use a little help here!" Ralph shouted to the other pirates. A few others soon helped but their efforts were wasted as well.

"That's enough," Wolf said raising his hand up, "we're not getting anywhere this way."

"It seems that this door is still electronically activated." Panther said as he took a closer look at the door.

"What good will it do us?" Leon questioned, "Just about everything in this place is busted."

Wolf thought about what Leon said, then he looked at the old computer. "Maybe…" Wolf thought out loud as he walked over to it and tried to use the keyboard. However, the keys didn't move, he looked under it and found a switch under the fake keyboard. Wolf presses the switch causing the door to open revealing a secret stairway. The other pirates looked on in amazement at the stairway. Some of the thugs muttering how great and brilliant Wolf was for finding the switch. Wolf's response to all of it was, "Quit gawking and get down those stairs. We don't have all day." Wolf led the others down the stairs until they reached an underground chamber with working lights, computer, everything. "So _this_ is the base." Wolf said in astonishment.

"Amazing how all this stuff remained intact." Panther said as the group walked into the basement area.

"Wait." Leon said as he slowly pulled out his blaster, "We have company."

"Everyone, blasters." Wolf said as he pulled out his weapon. The other pirates also drew out their guns. The group then carefully searched around the looking for who or what else was in the room with them. The same careless ape soldier heard a noise and went over to the computer. He then discovered where the noise came from.

"Boss!" The ape called out, "That signals coming from the computer here."

"You fool!" Wolf yelled, "Get back here now!" However, it was too late as a large floating blue hand shot up grabbing the simian's face and smashed his head through the monitor. A masked figure then dropped from above and the floating hand pulled out leaving the ape's body where it was and floated near the figure with blood slowly dripping from the fingertips.

"What is that thing?" Panther asked.

"How should I know?" Leon snapped.

"Quiet down." Wolf ordered trying to get a good look at the being in front of them. As far as he could tell, all the masked figure was wearing was a white and purple uniform with black boots. The lupine couldn't tell weather or not whose side it belonged to, Venomian or Cornerian, possible a free lancer. The hand then made a fist showing it was about to strike again. "Open fire!" Wolf yelled, not giving it a chance to attack. The pirates fired on the masked fighter but the floating hand blocked the shots giving the figure the chance to move out of the way.

"Whoa! Our shots didn't even phase it." The dog pirate exclaimed.

"Wolf, that thing is an alter." Leon informed.

"I know. Aim for the thing's controller but watch out for that hand." Wolf instructed, "Now keep firing!" Wolf and the others fired a barrage of lasers at the masked figure while it jumps around dodging the shots and using its alter as a shield. The pirate leader was becoming annoyed as how he and the others weren't able to hit the actual controller itself yet.

Panther carefully watched the figure's movements and fired a shot at its foot causing it to fall flat on it face. "How embarrassing." The feline gloated.

As the masked figure tried to get up, Wolf shot it in the knee. "You're not going anywhere." Wolf taunted. The masked alter user sent the hand flying towards Wolf. Wolf rolls out of the way and shoots the figure in the left shoulder. The impact of the hit caused the hand to change its course and grabbed Ronnie at the waist and pinned him to the wall. The rabbit gasped for air struggling to break free.

"Hang on Ronnie!" Ralph called out. The gator tried to pull the hand off but its grip was too tight. Two other pirates went over and tried helping and even used their blasters but that failed to do much damage.

The figure tried to get up but was then knocked back down to the ground after Leon shot it in the back. The other thugs open fire hitting its arms and legs until they completely blew off the left arm and right leg. The figure shrieked in pain.

"Hold your fire!" Wolf ordered as he walked over to the deformed fighter. "It's pretty obvious that you don't have enough brains to act on your own. So tell me who sent you." The masked fighter, instead on answering, reached out to attack. Wolf swiftly kicked the figure in the head knocking it over. When it turned back, Wolf had his blaster aimed at its head. "I don't have time for games!" Wolf scowled, "Tell me what I want to know!" The masked figure only tried to go after Wolf again but Wolf didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger and finally put an end to the unknown assailant as it fell onto its back. Ronnie was soon released from the hand alter's grasp as it disintegrated into thin air. Suddenly, the mask cracked and fell off of the figure. Wolf took a closer look at the attacker and saw that it was a male cat with light gray fur all over his body. "Could this thing be…"

"Wolf, you might want to take a look at this." Leon said as he looked into the next room. Wolf went over to see what Leon was talking about and what he saw made his eye open wide in shock. There were rows and rows of stasis pods containing more of the masked alters and there were different species varying from young to middle aged, tall or short, fur or scales.

After Ralph helped up the rabbit, Ralph saw the room and what was inside. "Wh-what the hell is this place?" The gator asked hoping to get some kind of answer.

"L-lord O'Donnell s-sir." One of the soldiers stammered, "Sh-shoudn't we be get outta here?" Wolf didn't respond. "Boss?"

"Coward." Panther called the soldier, "Show some backbone. And you call yourself a soldier? Pathetic."

"What now Wolf?" Leon asked.

"I'm going in to take a closer look." Wolf answered, "If these…_things_ are what I think they are. Then we just found Andross' secret stash." Wolf entered into the room then suddenly, the floor below him flashed white but quickly faded away. Wolf seemed alright, until he then heard the hissing sound of gas being released from the pods one by one and slowly backed out of the room. Ralph and the other space pirates were petrified as they saw more masked figures, dressed in Venomian uniforms this time, walking out towards them. Some of the soldiers were so scared that a few ran out while the others were shaking in fear.

"Oh God, it's all over! We're all dead!" A monkey pirate screamed.

"Shut up!!" Wolf barked at the soldier. Right at that moment, one of the masked fighters summoned the red hand alter and grabbed the cowardly soldier who was then pinned to the wall with the hand holding him by his throat. The other pirates pulled out their blasters and were ready to shoot. "Hold you fire!" Wolf commanded, then more masked creatures formed the floating hands and covered the blasters even crushing some of them. Wolf and the others carefully watched the masked alters as they just stood across from them silently watching, not even moving an inch. Minutes passed by as things remained at a stand still and even though the room was cooled, sweat was dripping from most of the space pirates still there.

"Now what do we do Wolf?" Leon asked in a whisper, "It's obvious that if we try to run they'll just hunt us down. We can't just stand here forever!"

"_He's right. What now?_" Wolf thought to himself. He then remembered how the first masked figure acted. "_What if these things are…_" He then started to walk over to them.

"Wolf, what are you doing!?" Leon called out.

"If I'm right then we've got nothing to worry about." Wolf replied turning towards the refined alters. "Tell me, who put you in those pods." The only response he got was a bunch of muffled voices that didn't sound like words but more like a screeching metallic noise. "So, you can't talk but you _are_ listening." Wolf then thought to himself, "_Listening…these things are too brainless to do anything on their own._"

"Well Wolf? How shall we deal with this one?" Panther asked.

"I'll handle this. I'm going to find out something." Wolf said after he took a few more steps toward the masked group. He looked over to the soldier still on the wall. "Let go of that soldier." Wolf said pointing to the scared simian. The hand soon released its grasp dropping the monkey and he crawled over into the corner still quivering in fear.

"Huh?" Leon gasped in surprise.

"How did he-" Panther started to ask.

"Drop the blasters." Wolf told the refined alters. The hands then drops the guns to the floor and the pirates hurried to pick them up and aim it towards the group. "Easy men. Don't shoot until I tell you to." Wolf then looked through the group and looked at a figure the seemed to be a dog. "You. Pick up that coward over there in the corner." The hand alter controlled by the canine grabs the monkey by the leg and pulls him into the air. The others watch in amazement as the screaming soldier gets lifted several feet off the ground.

"Wolf, how are you making him do that?" Leon asked.

"I just told it what to do and it listened."

"Let me try then." Panther said, "Drop that monkey." The red hand alter still had a firm hold. "I gave you an order now drop him."

"Let me try. Put him down now!" Leon ordered. "Why doesn't it respond?"

"Because they only listen to me." Wolf said, "Drop the monkey." The hand alter drops the pirate sending him falling flat on the ground but still conscious. "It's just as I thought. These things have no mind of their own and need someone else to control them."

"But why are they only listening to you?" Panther asked.

"Maybe that light might have something to do with it." Leon guessed.

"You may be right. You cowards, go check that room." Wolf said pointing to the pirates. The group checked the next room and made an interesting discovery.

"Boss! This thing in here looks like some kind of weird looking machine." One of the reptilian soldiers reported.

"Ah, it must be some sort of scanner device. It all makes sense now." Panther concluded, "After all, it explains why those things are listening to Wolf since he was the only one who passed through when it activated."

"I see but what about that other one?" Leon wondered, "If Wolf was the only reason these things were activated then why was the one that attacked us different? Even its alter was different."

"It could've been one of the Cornerian military's experiments." Wolf said.

"Cornerian? But why would they do something like that?"

"The same exact reason as Andross. To gain more power. That one must've been told to guard this place until those dogs show up."

"Yes, and they probably activated the transmitter while checking through the computer." Panther added.

"Then that means we don't have much time before they come back with reinforcements." Leon said.

"We're not going to let them take this place so easily. There's still more information we can get from here."

"But Wolf, the computer is destroyed. What could we possibly find useful?" Panther pondered.

"I'm just a little curious about these alter users. Something in their sleep chamber must have some sort of valuable information. And who knows, we might even find more of them."

"Well, we'd better hurry before the Cornerian ships arrive." Leon said.

"We won't be going anywhere, not yet. We'll set up the transfer gateway back above." Wolf said turning back to his soldiers, "Well? What are you fools waiting for? Go set up the gateway now!" The pirates began to hurry up the stairs to set up the gateway device and inform the others about what was going on.

"You're really going through with this?" Panther asked.

"If it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they'll get."

"This gives us the perfect opportunity to see what our new recruits can do." Leon said with a mischievous grin.

"And speaking of which I have a mission for them." Said Wolf walking over to the group of masked soldiers, "Your first assignment is to bring back all of those cowards than ran out earlier. And bring them back, alive." The refined alters creatures then dashed out of the room up the stairs to complete their objective.

"You really want them alive?" Leon questioned.

"They aren't getting off so easy. I want everyone to know what happens to deserters."

----

The Great Fox continues flying through space on its was to Fortuna with Bill's squad of Katinan troops there with the large ship. It wasn't long until the planet came into view and close up. Bill's ship and the other fighter planes began to slow down their speed. "Well Fox, this is as far as we can go." Bill said over the radio, "Call if you guys need any help."

"Thanks Bill, but we can handle things from here." Fox replied.

"Alright, take care Fox." Bill said, "All ships, pull back." The Katinan fighters stopped and soon turned back letting the Great Fox continue its voyage to Fortuna. As the ship neared the planet, it slowly came to a halt.

"Okay everyone, this is as far as we can go. The rest of the way we'll be taking the Arwings." Fox informed, "We'll be able to slip past the weapons detection but they could activate it at anytime so be on guard."

"No sweat Fox, this mission will be over in no time." Falco said with his usual cocky attitude.

"Yeah, let's show them what we've got!" Said an eager Kazufox.

"No, you stay here." Fox said.

"What? But why?"

"This mission is far too dangerous for you."

"Hey, I can handle myself. So I'm going."

"No, you're staying."

"But…"

"My decision is final. Besides, we someone to look after the ship."

"Looks like he got you there kid." Falco scoffed, "I'll try remembering to bring you a souvenir."

"Yeah, sure." Kazufox said disappointingly as he left the bridge.

"I hope he'll be okay here." Krystal wondered with concern.

"Don't worry, he'll be safer here." Said Fox, "Slippy, do you have the coordinates?"

"Got'em. I wasn't able to pinpoint where the base is exactly but I was able to find the general area it's in." Slippy informed.

"Great, now that we know where they are, let's go." Falco said.

"Right, Starfox team. Let's move out!"

----

Leon walks down the stairway to the hidden area of the lost Venomian base. He finds the large room empty except for Panther with his fingers in his ears. "Hey Panther!" Leon called out.

Panther looks up and pulls his fingers out. "It's about time you finished."

"Where's Wolf?"

Panther points to the room where the refined alters were found sleeping. Leon walks over and sees Wolf looking at of the stasis pods. The room was mostly empty since most of the pods were taken removed. Leon just stands at the doorway watching. "Several of those pods are loaded up on the carrier." Leon informed.

"Good. Tell me Leon, how many were there?" Wolf asked.

"There were about seventy but forty are on the carriers."

"Not that, I meant the deserters."

"Oh, there were three, but one of them found the guts to come back."

"What happened to that one?"

"He's still alive."

Wolf then glances over at Leon before he continues working at the pod. "You actually let him live? That's a bit too kind of you Leon."

"Don't worry, I didn't let him get away so easily." The lizard said with an evil grin, "He won't be so lucky next time. But the others do know first hand at what happens to deserters."

"Yeah, but there's still one person I'd really want to get my hands on."

"That kid?"

"Yes…" Wolf growled, then the two heard footsteps running down the stairs. It was the canine pirate that was with them earlier, he ran over to the doorway out of breath.

"Boss, we've got company!"

"How many?" Wolf asked.

"We spotted three ships in the distance."

"Only three?" Leon asked.

"Yes sir."

"I'm guessing it's McCloud's team."

"Have everyone get to their ships. Take them down." Wolf ordered.

"Yes sir!" The pirate said before running back upstairs.

"You know that McCloud is here too." Leon said.

"And I bet that he's going to try and find this place. But we'll see how well he does against our new toys."

"You mean those alters?"

"Exactly." Wolf said exiting the stasis room and walks by Leon, "And Leon, wipe your hands. You're still dripping with blood." The lizard only grinned.

----

Fox had landed his Arwing in a small clearing. He jumps out of his ship and looks around his surroundings. There were trees and plants growing almost everywhere, the birds were singing and he could here the sound of a waterfall in the distance. The humidity in the area he was in wasn't as bad as other areas on the planet. He looks up into the clear blue sky and sees the other three Arwings flying overhead.

"Okay guys, I'm counting on you for support." Fox said into his wrist communicator.

"Don't worry about us. Just watch yourself down there." Falco responded.

"Are you sure you're not going to use the Landmaster?" Slippy asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure that the enemy already know that we're here and if I take the Landmaster then they'll know where to look for me."

"Fox, be careful down there." Krystal said in a sincere tone.

"Don't worry. I'll be alright." Fox answered as he started walking into the jungle. He was almost out of the clearing when he heard the sound of banging metal. He draws his blaster and looks around to find where the source of the sound was coming from. Fox soon realized that it was coming from his Arwing so he walked back over to the ship.

Falco had noticed that Fox was heading back. "Hey Fox, what's the hold up?"

"I'm not sure. There's something…oh no." Fox said with a shocked expression. "ROB, is Kazufox there with you?"

"Negative." The robot responded.

"Is he in his room or anywhere on the ship?"

"Negative, no life signs detected onboard.

Fox frowned when he hear that and slowly reached over to the cargo hatch. When he opened the hatch, Kazufox came rolling out gasping for air.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Kazufox said while coughing.

Fox grabbed the younger vulpine's jacket and pulled him to his feet. "What are you doing here!?" Fox asked impatiently. "I told you to stay on the ship!"

"I'm here to help you out."

"You would've been if you stayed on the ship. You're still in no condition to do anything. And this is too dangerous for you."

"What's wrong Fox?" Krystal's voice asked over the communicator.

"I have our guest with me."

"What!? Are you serious?" Falco asked in a disbelieving tone.

"In the cargo hatch."

"What should we do?" Slippy asked, "It's not like we can just take him back to the ship."

"We'll just have to continue the mission as planned." Fox said, "And we're going to have a long talk when we get back. So just stay here until then."

"But you're going to need me if you plan on getting through here."

"You know how to get to the base?"

"Yeah…yeah! I was taken captive here." Kazufox lied, "It was this place I made my escape from Starwolf."

"Alright, you can tag along. But if we get into any trouble, head back straight to the Arwing, understand?"

"No problem." The younger fox grinned.

----

"What was that fool thinking!? He's just gonna get in the way!" Falco said angrily.

"He must have his reasons." Krystal suggested.

"Yeah, to run back to Wolf."

"Falco!"

"What? I'm just saying that-" The bird was interrupted when he noticed something on his radar.

"We've got enemy ship, dead ahead!" Slippy exclaimed.

"Alright, let's take'em all out!" Falco said enthusiastically. He then fired up the boosters and flies straight into the group of pirates. Slippy and Krystal did the same.

----

On the ground below, Kazufox wonders aimlessly through the dense jungle with Fox following close behind. Kazufox pushes aside tree branches and vines as they walk through tall grass all the way up to their thighs.

"How much farther is it?" Fox asked. He didn't get an answer. "Hey, are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Huh? Yeah, over this way."

The two continued walking until they find a clearing filled with tall grass. The two foxes travel into the field while in the skies above, the others were shooting down the enemy space pirates. Fox started slowing down until he stopped. Kazufox continued walking and was soon across the clearing.

"_Something's not right._" Fox thought to himself drawing his blaster. Suddenly, a group of masked fighters appeared out of nowhere surrounding Fox and formed red floating hands. Fox saw that they were wearing the old Venomian uniforms from the Lylatian Wars. He realized that the only way he was going to get out of there was to blast his way out. "Kazufox, I'll distract them. When I give the signal…"Fox soon found out that he was all by himself and that Kazufox was nowhere to be seen, "Great…" Fox hid his blaster in the tall grass and started to charge it up. As soon as he started, one of the red hands flew straight at Fox. He jumped out of the way and noticed more of the floating hands coming towards him. He ducked under one and sidestepped to avoid another. Fox jumped onto one of the hands then jumped off firing a fully charged shot at one of the hands sending it flying into one of the masked soldiers and the hand being controlled by it soon fell to the ground. "I see, I've got to knock these guys out to stop those things." Fox said to himself while firing his blaster. As he fired at a group of the soldiers, a large yellow shield materialized and absorbed the shots. Fox soon found the masked soldier controlling the shield and turned to fire at it. Before he could turn all the way, Fox felt a tight grip on his foot. He realized that the hands above ground were just a distraction while some were hiding in the grass. Fox tried to shoot off the one on his leg but then another grabbed his other leg then one got his waist. Fox fired a charged shot getting rid of the one on his waist but then one grabbed his right arm and then another on his blaster only to crush the weapon. Fox was running out of options so he tried to contact his team, "Falco! Slippy! Krystal! Anyone!" That was all Fox was able to say before one of the hands grabbed his throat cutting off his air circulation.

"Fox what is it? Come in Fox! Fox?" Said Falco's voice the communicator. Then one of the hands ripped off the device and crushed it and another held onto Fox's left arm. Fox struggled to free himself but was unable break their grasp. He felt himself lifted into the air as he was then carried off before passing out.

----

Kazufox wasn't too far away still searching for the base. He then heard Fox yell out and went back to find him. When he found the clearing he saw a device on the top of the grass. He went to pick it up and found out that it was Fox's wrist communicator. "Oh no, Fox." He said to himself. Kazufox then saw a pathway and figured that's the direction Fox was taken to and followed it.

----

Falco chased behind a group of three ships which then split up and flew in different directions. Falco still followed one of the ships and fired a charged shot. The ship exploded on contact. "Can anyone see Fox?" Falco asked.

"The trees are too thick. I lost his signal after we lost contact with him." Slippy answered.

"Dammit! What about you Krystal?" Falco then noticed that Krystal's Arwing was taking damage, "Krystal!" Falco fired on the ships tailing her causing them to scatter. "Hey, are you okay in there?"

"I'm sensing powerful thought patterns but it feels…empty." Krystal responded.

"Empty? How's that possible?" Slippy asked.

"I'm not sure but-" Krystal then gasped, "Fox is down there with them!"

"They're probably taking him to their base."

"Krystal, tell me which way they went and I'll go get Fox myself." Falco said.

"They're…I…I can't sense them."

"What do you mean?"

"Their thought patterns, it just…disappeared."

"Fox…" Slippy said worriedly.

----

"So colonel, is that how you feel?" Asked General Pepper over the monitor.

"Yes sir general. I honestly believe that Starfox is harboring a dangerous criminal." Summers answered.

"Do you have any evidence?"

"I have some eyewitnesses that could identify the criminal."

"I know Starfox and they wouldn't willingly help out some dangerous outlaw if they knew who it was."

"Even so, they are still helping him."

"And you plan to go after them?"

"If they refuse to hand the boy over then I'll have to take them into custody."

"If you plan on going after them, then why are you telling me?"

"I know how Starfox reports directly to you and I want to make my actions perfectly clear so there won't be any misunderstandings."

There was a brief pause. "Colonel, if this is about-"

"I thank you for your time general. I will inform you on all the details. Over and out." The wolf said before ending communications. He exited the room with a few soldiers including Greyson, standing outside the wolf's office ready.

"Well colonel? What's our next move?" The feline lieutenant asked.

"Gather up some soldiers. We're going to Fortuna."

----

"Wake up pup." Said a low deep voice.

Fox started to regain consciousness. His sight was still a bit hazy but as far as he could tell he found himself inside an old building. He noticed a gray blurry image walking toward him. "Wolf?"

"It's about time you woke up." Wolf said.

Fox then realized that he was in the hidden base. He tried to move but saw that two armored pirate guards were restraining his arms.

"Don't worry, you won't be here too long."

Fox stopped his struggling and looked around. He noticed the group of masked soldiers all lined up and standing at attention. "I see you've found a group to hang out with. Who's are they?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Tell me! Who is it that you're working for!?" Fox blurted out, "Is it Andross? Is he still alive? Who?"

Wolf soon got sick of listening and punched Fox in his stomach. "I don't know where you get off demanding anything!" Yelled Wolf, "And I don't work for anyone, got that? But I do have some questions for _you_ to answer. Starting with this, how did you find out about this base?"

"Huh?" Fox coughed out.

"How were those dogs able to find this place? This place wasn't on any of the Venomian records or even any map. So how?"

"We figured there was a base here because of a device." Fox coughed.

"What device?"

"It has the ability to manipulate the surface of Solar and use it as a weapon. Thought you might…know where it is." Fox said coughing some more.

"If that's what you've been searching for then you're wasting your time. There is no such device, otherwise we would've destroyed you before you even arrived on the planet."

Fox was shocked when he heard that. "But it was protecting a Venomian battleship. Who else would be able to have access to one besides you?"

"Like I told you there's no device like that here or anywhere."

"_I don't believe it. If it's not here then where?_" Fox thought to himself.

"But now I've got another question to ask you." Wolf said, "Where's the kid?"

"What kid?"

Wolf strikes Fox in the face. "Don't act like you don't know! That fox brat was picked up by you and your team."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Oh, but I do." Wolf smirked, "You see McCloud, I always keep track of my things. And the Wolfen that he stole? We traced it back to your ship. Now where is he?"

"I still don't know who you're talking about."

Wolf's face went serious and even showing a bit of anger and frustration, "Listen pup, it's no use lying, I already know."

"I guess…you're right." Fox said with a weak laugh, "But I still won't tell you."

Wolf punches Fox again in the face almost knocking him down. "I'm not in the mood time to play games. Now hand over that little traitor now or else!"

"T-traitor?"

"Oh, you mean he didn't tell you? He used to work for me." Explained Wolf, "That is until he damaged one of my bases and stole one of the Wolfens! And I bet that all you've done was pamper him, am I right?"

"He…he said that you captured him and was holding him prisoner!"

"He said that? Ha! What a joke. _He_ was the one who wanted to work for _me_. In fact, he stowed away on one of my ships just to ask me personally. I bet he never even told you what he _really_ is."

"What are you talking about? He's just a kid."

"This is just too much. You are just so damn pathetic it's embarrassing. Look over at those soldiers. They are called alter users because of their powers, and the boy is one also."

Fox just looked away. "But…why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's the truth." Wolf answered, "Something _you _never would've found out because you're so damn soft. And now that you know he's deceived not just me, but you too as well, will you tell me where he is? Or how about this, I'll even let you and your team leave here alive and you have to do is tell me where the boy is."

For a moment, Fox paused looking down at the ground, but soon breathed out his answer boldly and firmly, "No."

"What did you say?"

"I won't betray him Wolf. Even if everything you've said about him is true, I still won't tell you!"

Wolf punches Fox in the stomach. Fox had nearly collapsed but was being held up by the two guards. "You're such a fool! Fine, if you're not going to tell me then," Wolf said pulling out a knife, "I'll kill you."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Reawakened Power

Kazufox had found an old building and goes over in hopes of finding Fox. He remained hidden in the bushes as an armored pirate guard walks nearby. Kazufox tried to reach for his blaster but realized that it was still gone.

"Great. Looks like I'll have to find another way in." The fox muttered to himself looking around to find a tree with a lot of vines hanging down that he could climb into one of the broken windows. He saw that there were too many guards around to get by unnoticed so he picked up a rock and tossed it into the opposite direction. A small crowd went over to go see what it was as Kazufox quietly crept over and started climbing until he could reach the window. He jumped over and looked inside and saw Fox being held by the two pirates and Wolf with the knife.

----

"Listen pup, this is your last chance." Wolf said as he grabbed to patch of white fur on Fox's head holding his head up while keeping the knife very close to the vulpine in the other hand, "Tell me where he is or else I'll kill you right here and now." Wolf was now holding the knife close the Fox's throat.

"Sorry Wolf, but I won't tell you anything about him." Fox responded.

"A hero to the end." Wolf mocked, "You'll only die like a fool!" Wolf then drew back the knife about to strike, but the masked soldiers realized that Kazufox was there and began forming their hand alters. Wolf noticed this and stopped looking back at the group of mute soldiers. "Well, it looks like we have an uninvited guest." He nods to the refined alters and they strike the wall. The wall easily collapsed and Kazufox screamed out as he went down with it, but soon disappeared in a cloud of debris. The armored soldiers went over with their blasters out ready for the vulpine, waiting for the smoke to clear. They then heard a loud crashing noise. A few of the pirates went over closer to get a better view. Suddenly, there was another loud crash and Kazufox appeared from the smoke in his alter form with the three blades on his back and sealed eye, and delivers a powerful elbow hit to one of the pirates sending him flying back into another.

"Get him!" Wolf roared.

The pirates began to open fire on Kazufox as he punched the ground propelling himself to the railings on the upper walkway. Two hand alters grabbed each side of the rail and pulled it down and Kazufox had jumped back down, but was then under a lot of fire and used his alter arm to block the lasers. He was soon a hit in the back of his leg almost causing the fur to topple over. Kazufox looked over and saw the transfer gateway where more troops were arriving from in the corner of the room. "Gah! So that's where you bastards are coming from." Kazufox said to himself, "Shocking First Bullet!!" He yelled out as his right arm splits open and the bottom wing blade disintegrated. The blade had turned into a burst of sapphire colored energy that shot him towards the device and with one mighty punch had destroyed it creating an explosion knocking over the pirates that were nearby. The refined alters then surrounded Kazufox. "You guys again? It's been a while." Some of the masked fighters then sent their alter hands towards Kazufox. "Sorry, but I don't have time to play!" The fox said as he dodged and deflected their attacks and then tried to destroy on by attacking them head-on. His punch connected with one of the floating hands but then as more started to line up behind the one, Kazufox began to be pushed back. Some of the other hands lined up and then struck the first one with a force that sent Kazufox crashing into the wall. "If that's how you want to play then Terminating Second Bullet!!" Kazufox strikes the wall, making a large hole, and the second blade disintegrates and turns into a burst of energy. He then hits the lined up alters crushing at least three on impact and caused the rest to scatter some hitting the walls making the building begin shaking.

As Wolf watched, his anger slowly grew. Fox on the other-hand was watching in disbelief at what was happening. "_Wolf was telling the truth afterall…is this what he really is?_" Fox could only wonder. He started noticing that some of the masked soldiers had collapsed after that last attack.

"Wolf, we have to get out of here." Leon said.

"No, we're staying!" Wolf protested.

"At this rate the entire building will collapse on us!"

"I don't care! That brat…really knows how to piss me off!"

"If that's the case then let me take care of it." Panther said aiming his blaster, "I've got a clear shot from here."

"If you shoot him I'll rip your throat out!" Threatened Wolf, "This kid is mine and I want him alive!"

Kazufox continued dodging the remaining hand alters and then punched the ground sending him up towards the ceiling. He saw where Fox was as well as the Starwolf team. Kazufox punched off the ceiling sending him flying in Fox's direction.

Wolf realized who the alter fox was heading for. "Don't let him through!" Wolf ordered. The masked alter users sent their hand alters to stop Kazufox.

"Obliterating Last Bullet!!" Kazufox yelled as the final blade turned into energy shooting him past the floating hands. He was starting to get close but then three masked alters jumped in front of Wolf and formed and combined the yellow alter shields. Kazufox's attack hits the shield directly. "Damn you! Get out of my way!" The vulpine yelled out as he struggled to break through the shield. Then, four other refined alters went over forming the same shield and combined with the large one already there. With the last remain ounce of strength left in the attack, Kazufox caused a large explosion sending himself crashing to the ground while the shield wasn't even scratched. The smoke cleared and the shield disintegrates back into nothing while everyone behind it was undamaged by the attack.

Kazufox then got back to his feet. His alter was cracked with parts of his regular arm exposed and suddenly, the hand alters grabbed his arms and legs. He couldn't move after he used up most of his strength that last attack.

"Look at what we have here." Leon said as he and Panther walked over to Kazufox.

"So the traitor decides to show his face again eh?" Panther said, "Now I'm going to make you pay for stealing my beautiful Wolfen!"

"Back off!" Wolf roared, "I said this brat is mine and I meant it." Wolf walks over to the fox with the knife still in his hand. "You little bastard. Did you honestly think you could get away with what you did? Now I'll show you what happens to traitors."

Before Kazufox realized what was about to happen, he felt the sharp blade penetrate into his side. The fox screamed loudly in pain. "I'm going to enjoy making you pay." Wolf said as he twisted the knife causing the fox to scream even louder.

"Wolf, stop!" Fox pleaded, "Please Wolf, he's still just a kid!"

Wolf looks over towards Fox. "So what? I don't care if he's in diapers. A traitor is still a traitor. But this one…really pisses me off!" Wolf said as he jerked the knife out and stabbed Kazufox's left arm. The vulpine again screamed loudly in pain. Wolf then took a moment to look at his captive. He saw that his left side was bleeding and his left arm was dripping with blood from where the knife went in. Kazufox raised his head only to see Wolf's fist strike him. Wolf continues to hit the fox over and over.

"Wolf stop!" Fox cried out, "That's enough!"

"Shut up! You have no idea what this kid has done." Wolf angrily yelled as he grabbed Kazufox's throat and began choking him, "Nobody humiliates Wolf O'Donnell and lives to tell about it! Nobody!" Wolf continued punching Kazufox's face even after it had already started to bleed. Fox couldn't watch and tried his best to break free but the two soldiers only brought him to the ground face first. He could still see what was going on.

"That right arm of yours." Wolf said as he pulled out the knife, "You seem quite proud of it." Kazufox didn't say anything. "Without it, you're nothing." Wolf said as he inserted the blade into the exposed arm.

"Is that really Wolf?" Panther asked in surprise.

Leon nods, "Take note of this Panther. This is what happens when you cross Wolf. You experience a fate worst than death."

"How can you say that like it's nothing?"

"Because it's true. Although, Wolf always did lack an artistic style." Leon grinned, "Unlike me."

"Bah, disgusting."

----

"_This pain…who's is it?_" Krystal thought to herself, "_Is it Fox? No. It's someone else…Kazufox?_" Krystal continued flying not paying attention to the battle. She was soon tailed by one of the pirates and was taking damage.

"Krystal! Hey, wake up!" Falco's voice called out.

She awoke from her trance to realize that her shields were dropping at a steady rate. The enemy ship continued firing until Slippy fired on the ship blowing out the engines sending the ship into the trees below.

"Thanks Slippy."

"Krystal, is something wrong?" The amphibian asked.

"I'm sensing more of those strange thought patterns and one that's…different. And in pain."

"Is it Fox?"

"No, he's not the one I'm sensing."

"You don't think that it might be the other fox guy, could it?" Falco asked.

"I'm don't know. Wait…I'm sensing Fox. He's down there with them!" Krystal said as she flew her Arwing in the direction towards the base.

----

"Hey Shawn!" Ralph called out, "You okay?"

"Yeah," The eagle said while crawling out of his wrecked ship, "Just had some bad luck."

"Don't worry, we'll pick you up after we're done here." The reptile said as he began to fire on Slippy.

----

Falco noticed the pirate's ship chasing Slippy and gave chase. "Oh no you don't!" Falco said firing on the fighter causing it to turn away.

"That was a close one. Thanks Falco."

"Come on. Krystal knows where Fox is."

----

"Wake him up." Wolf ordered.

The hand alters tightened their grip and started twisting Kazufox's limbs. He woke up from the pain with his face bruised and his body, especially his right arm, was covered with cut marks. The visible parts of his green flight suit were almost completely stained with blood. Even in that condition he still remained in his alter form or whatever was left. Kazufox looks around and sees Wolf with the bloodstained knife in his hands and then Fox being held by the two armored pirates. He noticed tears coming down his face. Fox was crying…for him. Next, he heard the sound of an engine whine from outside.

"An Arwing." Leon said.

"Ah, must be Krystal no doubt." Smiled Panther.

"Damn, she must've sensed those alters." The lizard cursed, "Wolf! They know where we are."

"That was sooner than I expected." Wolf said, "Set some charges. If those dogs want this place so badly then let them keep its ruins. We've got a bigger catch with us anyways. McCloud comes with us."

"But sir, what about the boy?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Oh yeah, the brat." Wolf said as he looked over towards the masked alters controlling the hands, "Break him." At that, the hands began tightening their grip and started pulling Kazufox's limbs trying to rip him apart.

"Wolf no! Don't do this!" Fox pleaded.

"Save your breath McCloud, it's not going to do you any good." Wolf said coldly, "Let's go, this place is going to get messy."

"Aw…pity I couldn't stay and watch." Leon said with disappointment in his voice.

----

Kazufox looked up at Fox watching as he was being forcefully dragged out. He felt his muscles beginning to tear. Kazufox's breathing was cut off and had soon blacked out.

"_I'm sorry Fox. I couldn't help you. I can't even save my own hide._" The vulpine thought to himself.

"Kazu!" A voice screamed out.

"_Huh? S-Serena?_" Kazufox saw in front of him the horse and mouse soldiers taking the cat away and the white liger standing there laughing at him. "_You! What the hell is so funny!?_" The liger only gave a smirk before turning to leave. "_Get back here!_" Kazufox yelled as he tried to move but saw the alter hands holding him back.

"Kazu!"

Kazufox looked back but saw that they were already gone. "_No, I…I'm just not strong enough. I've lost my power. I can't do anything to help anybody!_" He then sensed an energy radiating inside of himself. "_My power…I never lost it. It's been with me all this time. And now, I need that power…Serena, I promised that I would save you and that's what I will!_"

----

The Starwolf team left the base with the armored pirates and masked soldiers. Fox was being dragged along held prisoner still struggling to break free. Wolf had stopped and looked back at the decrepit fortress.

"What is it?" Leon asked.

"I thought I heard something."

"Probably the sound of flesh tearing."

"Serena…" A voice from inside said weakly.

"Huh? What's he mumbling about?" Leon wondered.

"At this point does it really matter?" Panther said.

----

"My power…I need it back." Kazufox said to himself. His right arm began to glow a dim golden color. "More power. And…more. And more! I need more power!!" Kazufox's arm was shining a bright golden color and he shakes off the hand alter holding the arm and grabbed the one on his left arm and threw it off. He used his left hand to try and pry open his left eye. The Starwolf team ran back inside the building to get a better view at what was happening. They watched as Kazufox open his left eye but they didn't see an eye, they saw a glowing light. The eye was almost completely open as the right arm began to glow the same way.

Wolf had soon realized what was going on. "You!" Wolf called out to one of the pirates, "The detonator! Hit it now!"

"But sir, what about those masked guys still inside?"

"Do it!!" Wolf yelled.

The soldier pulled out the trigger device and detonated the explosive charges. There were explosions on each corner of the base and even in the hidden chamber that they had cleaned out. The Starwolf mercenaries ran over to the main group escaping the blasts from their bombs looking back watching the base collapsed on top of Kazufox and the four masked alters that were still inside.

"NO!!!" Fox screamed in horror watching the last of the building come to a crashing end.

"We've got to move, now!" Wolf commanded.

"Lord O'Donnell! Look!" One of the soldiers exclaimed pointing to the rubble.

Wolf looks over and saw that from the middle of the wreck was a glowing light, then a hand reached out from the rubble. Fox looked over and was more shocked than relieved to see the younger vulpine still moving. Kazufox was still alive and was pulling himself out and stood lurched over trying to keep his balance. His flight suit was torn, the metal boots were cracked and started to fall apart, his jacket was gone and the scarf soon came off and fell onto the wreckage. His arm and eye began to change shape and form as well as a large spot on his back.

"What are you fools waiting for!? Fire!!" Wolf yelled as he pulled out his blaster and fired a shot at Kazufox but only to have it just bounced off. Wolf stopped and looked on. Pieces of the building started to rise into the air surrounding Kazufox, the large pieces of metal began to disintegrate into the glowing body parts causing it to change shape even more.

----

Krystal couldn't concentrate on flying feeling the strain from sensing an incredible power so suddenly. Her Arwing soon began to head towards the ground. Fortunately, another Arwing was able to catch hers from underneath brining her back up.

"Hey Krystal, what's wrong?" Falco asked trying to steady his Arwing holding up Krystal's.

"I'm sensing…a great power." Krystal informed, "And it's getting stronger!"

"Krystal's right." Said Slippy, "I'm detected something on radar with an enormous energy signature."

In an explosion of power, Kazufox caused a pillar of light to rise up from the ground into the sky. The ships managed to avoid getting too close to the light.

"What the hell is that!?" Falco yelled, "Is that the weapon?"

"No, it's a completely different energy signature." Slippy explained, "And it doesn't even come close to reaching Solar."

----

As sudden as the light had appeared it vanished again. None of the ships had touched it or appeared that they were damaged from it.

"Hey, is everyone okay?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah, but what _was_ that light?" An ape pirate wondered.

"I don't know."

"Hey, the base! It's gone!" Another pirate exclaimed.

"Oh no." An avian groaned.

"Hey, do you think that those masked weirdoes had something to do with it?"

"Picking up something on radar." Ronnie informed, "It's O'Donnell, he's okay."

"Alright, Wolf is okay. Now it's our job to make sure that he stays that way until they get to their ships."

----

After the light had disappeared, Kazufox emerged as a shadow in a golden aura. His left eye seemed larger than the right and he then slowly raised his newly reformed alter arm into the air. None of the space pirates had moved, but still had their blasters all aimed at the vulpine.

"We better get outta here!" One of the armored pirates holding Fox whispered.

"Yeah, I'm with you. Let's ditch McCloud and split!" The other guard said.

"No, it's McCloud he wants so we can use him as a bargain. He won't do anything if we still have our hostage.

"Everyone get ready to fire." Wolf said cautiously aiming his blaster. The masked soldiers began forming the hand alters and spread out in front of Kazufox. They all just waited for the fox's next move. One of the armored pirates shifted his foot back a little. Kazufox saw this and strikes his fist on the ground sending him flying towards the group and thrusts his hand into the guard's chest then tossed his lifeless body into others and then strikes one nearby pirate in the face with the back of his fist crushing the pirate's helmet.

"Shoot him!" Wolf yelled as he and the others began firing at Kazufox. The fox swings his arm sending a burst of energy in front of the pirates knocking them over, then he turned to Wolf. The object on his back began to spin sending him flying towards Wolf. Seven masked alters moved in front and formed their combined alter shield to create the giant shield from before. This time however, some of the hand alters attached to the shield filling it with even more power. Kazufox punches the shield directly in the center. As he strained to break through, a crack appeared over the left eye and right arm. With a loud yell, Kazufox shatters the shield creating a massive explosion knocking over everyone behind the shield and the refined alters that controlled the shield. Wolf looked up to see the shadow right in front of him watching as drops of blood dripped from the right hand as Kazufox walked over towards him.

"What's the matter Wolf?" The alter fox asked, "You look a bit scared."

"What are you?" Wolf asked glaring at the figure.

"Me?" The vulpine laughed, "I'm your worst nightmare."

Wolf looking around to find any back up but all that he found was everyone still recovering from the explosion including Panther and Leon. Wolf then saw his blaster near him but it was just out of reach.

"Wolf, I see how you deal with your enemies." Kazufox said raising his arm ready to strike, "Now let me show you how I deal with mine."

The two guards try to quietly escape with Fox into the trees. Fox still struggled and squirmed keeping an eye on Kazufox. Fox realizes what he plans on doing to his archrival. "Kazufox, don't do it!" Fox cried out.

The alter fox looks over towards Fox. Wolf then leaped for the blaster and started charging it. When Kazufox turned back, Wolf had fired a fully charged shot right at him point blank. He used his alter to block most of the attack but was pushed back.

"Everyone, pull back!" Wolf said as he dashed into the jungle. Panther, Leon and everyone else who was still able to move evacuated the area except the two guards. Kazufox was about to chase after Wolf until he heard Fox.

"Let go!" Fox yelled out still struggling. Kazufox turned over to the three.

"Shut up! One of the thugs said as he hits Fox in the back of the neck, "Do you want him to notice us?"

"L-look!" The other pointed out as the alter fox walks straight towards them. He took a few steps closer until one of the guards pulls out his blaster and holds it to Fox's head.

"Don't move or else he gets it." Kazufox ignored him and continued walking.

"It's not working!" The other soldier screamed.

"Didn't you hear me? I'll do it so you'd better stop!" The pirate yelled as he presses the barrel of the weapon into the side of Fox's head. This time Kazufox stops and the aura around him disappears and his body is visible again revealing that his right arm had become bulkier than before with two gold spikes on the side of the paw and a silver hatch on the back of his hand. The arm had a blade-like extension near the elbow and red shoulder armor. On the left eye was a blue eyepiece with orange spikes on top and a yellow propeller on his back.

"That's a good boy. Now turn around and start walkin." The thug ordered, but the vulpine just stood in place, "Are you deaf? Start walking or McCloud dies!" Suddenly then propeller on Kazufox's back began to spin again and launched him at the soldier. "S-stay back!" He screamed. The guard saw that the fox was coming for him so he turned his blaster on the vulpine and started firing but every shot was blocked. Kazufox rams the pirate with his shoulder sending him crashing into a tree with a loud bone-shattering crack. He then looks over at the other armored guard.

"Forget this! You can have McCloud." The soldier said as he shoves Fox to the ground and runs off. The propeller on Kazufox's back began to spin as he took off after the frightened space pirate.

----

The armored guard continues running through the jungle frantically. He keeps looking back to see if the alter fox was still following him and would stumble a few times from doing so. The pirate was soon tired from running due to the fact his heavy armor was restraining his mobility.

"I knew this was a bad idea." The pirate said to himself trying to catch his breath. The soldier checked to see where the alter fox was and didn't see anything. He turned to start running again but Kazufox drops from above on top of him and pins him to the ground. Kazufox wraps his alter arm around the soldier's arm while holding him down on the back of the pirate's neck with his left foot. Kazufox had his right knee pressed on the guard's back holding his left shoulder down with his regular arm.

"I see you like twisting other people's arms." Kazufox taunted, "Let's see how _you_ like it!"

"W-wait! It's Kazu-Kazufox, right?"

"Yeah so?"

"Hey, it's me. Remember?"

"Sorry, I can't tell with that tin can on your head."

"It's me, Mitch! You know, I had that little party for you back at the base."

"The big ape, I remember. So what's your point?"

"You wouldn't hurt a friend, would ya?"

"_Friend_?" Kazufox laughed, "I never thought of _you_ as a friend. In fact," The vulpine said slightly tugging on the pirate's arm, "You were one of the guys that liked to piss me off all the time!"

"Aw, come on. We were just funning with you, that's all. We're still buddies right?"

"Nice try, but I'm not buying it. Now…it's payback."

"Wha-? Wait! Don't do this!" Mitch cried out. Kazufox only grins as he tugs on Mitch's shoulder pulling his arm out of its socket. The ape soldier was screaming in a lot of pain. Fox wasn't too far when he heard the pirate's scream and rushed over. When he finally arrives, he finds Kazufox on the guard's back pulling his arm out.

"I surrender! I surrender!" The ape pleaded, "Please, just let go!"

"Kazufox, let him go!" Fox ordered, "He gave up so there's no point in continuing." Kazufox ignored Fox's orders and with one swift tug of his alter, broke the pirate's arm at the elbow before finally getting off. Fox went over to the pirate.

"No! Stay back!" The ape screamed.

"It's okay, I'll try to get you some help." Fox said.

"Go away!" The pirate screamed as he frantically tries to remove his helmet with the other arm. The light gray haired ape pulled out his blaster and pointed it to his head.

"Wait!" The pirate's screams were silenced after he squeezed the trigger. "Why did you do that?" Fox shouted, "He already surrendered, so why did you keep going!?"

Kazufox ignores Fox still and uses his left eye to search through the jungle and finds the location of the Starwolf's landing ground. He also saw one of the carriers and the Wolfens not too far away. "Shell…" Kazufox said as energy went the his alter hand causing it to glow slightly, "Shurigun…" The eyepiece on the fox's left eye locks on target and the arm splits open, "BURST!!" He yells as he fires a powerful energy beam that cuts through the trees and destroys the carrier and damages the other ships nearby including the Wolfens.

Fox was stunned, he didn't know who or what the other fox really was, and then thought more and more about what Wolf said, and looked back at the dead pirate. He rushed over to the pirate guard's body and saw that the arm was completely shattered at the joint. He then looks over at Kazufox and asked, "What did you do?"

"What did I do?" The vulpine laughed, "I just made things a lot worst for Wolf."

"That's not what I meant! I mean this soldier, he said he gave up but you still continued!"

"Why would _you_ care? I thought they were your enemies?" Kazufox asked back, "I guess that's why you've never finished off Wolf. And besides, _I_ wasn't the one that killed him."

"That's besides the point. It's true that they are our enemies but we're not cold blooded killers!"

"I knew him! He would've pulled out his gun and shot us both if I didn't do what I did!"

That statement stunned Fox when he said that he knew the simian. "Ah forget it." Kazufox said as he walks over and picks up Mitch's blaster. "Here, yours is trashed, right? So use this one." He said tossing the weapon over to Fox, "We better move, Wolf is probably on his way over right now."

"Kazufox, is it true that you're-"

"Come on!" Kazufox interrupted as he runs ahead.

----

"What was that!?" Falco asked.

"It's that same energy I've been-aah!" Krystal screamed as her ship was under fire.

"Krystal!" Falco called out as he tailed the ship chasing her. After firing a few shots, the ship finally went down into the trees below.

----

"No dammit!" Ronnie cursed as his ship heads towards the trees. The ship manages to survive from the impact and sits tangled by a few vines before crashing to the ground.

"Hey, you okay?" Ralph asked over the radio.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The rabbit said as he crawled out of his broken fighter. Right after he had jumped out of his ship, he thought he saw Fox and Kazufox in nearby. "That was…So, that punk was with Starfox this whole time!?" Ronnie growled to himself, "I always knew there was something about him. This proves that foxes can't be trusted." The pirate pulled out his blaster and checked it but the impact of the crash had damaged it. "Damn cheap weapons!" Ronnie cursed as he threw down the gun. He then chased after the two only being armed with a knife.

----

"What happened?" Wolf asked in surprise finding the wreckage of the carrier as well as other ships.

"No!" Leon screamed out, "Some of those alter users were in that carrier!"

"What!? Dammit, how many do we have left?"

"Sir, we have approximately thirty-six refined alters remaining." One soldier reported.

"Oh no!" Panther said, "We've already lost more than half our numbers."

"No…" Wolf said as he ran over to the wreckage. He looks around finding nothing but burning scraps of metal and stopped as he saw a hand rise up from the ground, then he found several more hands popping up. The surviving refined alters had pulled themselves from the ground. "Looks like I should give Andross a little more credit for making his toys more durable."

"Wolf, our ships are too damaged to fly." Leon said, "If we try to get out now then we won't make it out alive."

"But how did all this happen?" Panther asked.

Wolf remembers what happened with Kazufox's eye and what he said about it, "_This? A little side effect from this arm here._"

"_That little brat. He kept his power hidden from me. And that energy…he did this._" Wolf thought to himself, "_I just know it!_"

"Well Wolf?" Leon asked, "What do we do now?"

"We'll try to fix our Wolfens and in the meantime everyone else, get into a working ship and head on ahead. Once we find an opening we'll have the carrier escape here and head back to base." Some of the pirates weren't too sure about Wolf's idea and just stood there. "I said move it! Or else!" He yelled as the refined alters lined up preparing to attack if they were told to. The armored pirates then scurried to the ships and the ones that worked took flight.

----

Slippy's Arwing continues to chase after one of the enemy ships. The toad fires on the ship severely damaging it.

"I've got you now." Slippy said locking onto the ship. But before he could fire, he realized that he was being chased. "Whoa! Get lost!"

Another Arwing fires a charged shot obliterating the enemy ship.

"Slippy, pull it together." Falco said.

"Sure, sorry Falco."

"This isn't the time to be screwing around." But Falco's ship was soon rocked as it was being shot at. "Gah! You sneaky little…" Falco's Arwing did a loop but so did the enemy's ship. "So that's how you want it, then just try and keep up!" Falco said as he put his ship in a nosedive into the trees below while still being pursued. He flew his ship avoiding the trees while and the pirate followed closely. Falco has a smirk on his face as hit suddenly hits the brakes. The enemy ship behind him had to pull up since its braking system was nowhere near as good compared to the Arwing's. Falco then chased after the ship and charged up his lasers. "You lose, buddy!" The blue avian said firing the charged shot. The pirate tried his best to try and avoid being hit by it. "Come on, go down already!" It wasn't until another Arwing fired a charged shot at it the ship was destroyed.

"There's only a few of them left." Krystal said.

"Good to see you're back."

----

"They've got Akira!" One pirate cried out.

"Damn, he was one of our best pilots!" Ralph cursed.

"Hey, where's our backup? We're being-gaaah!!" Screamed one pilot as his ship was destroyed.

"No! We lost another one!"

"Hey, our reinforcements are here!" Informed another space thug.

There were only ten more ships that went into battle. Most of them were damaged but still able to fight. After the Arwings started firing at the ships, most of them went down in just a few hits.

"What happened to their ships?"

"Where's Wolf?"

"I-I don't know." One of the pilots said. He then noticed something on the ground below. "Hey, I think I see the kid."

"Kazufox?" Ralph asked surprised.

"Yeah and…and he's with McCloud!"

----

Laser fire continues as Fox dodges out of the way and returns fire taking out the grounded pilots one by one. As they continued firing a barrage of lasers, Kazufox steps in. The propeller on his back begins to spin again and he flies toward the pirates while dodging their fire. He strikes the ground in front of them creating a large explosion that sent the soldiers flying back. Laser fire continued from behind and one of the shots hits Kazufox directly in his left arm causing it to go limp for a moment.

"Shit!" Kazufox yelped. His alter eye traces back to the one who fired the shot and the propeller begins to spin sending him flying at a brown-feathered eagle.

"You traitor!" Shawn called out, "You're gonna pay for what you did!" The bird continues to fire at the alter fox but all of his shots are deflected.

"You're dead! Shell…" The arm splits open and the silver hatch opens absorbing energy, "Shurigun…" The eyepiece locks on target, "BUR-" But just then, he realized who he was attacking. "_Shawn!_" He tried to stop but it was too late, the worst of the attack was prevented but Shawn was still hit in the chest. As Shawn was being knocked back, he felt like his heart had exploded and his insides were shattered. Kazufox only watches as the eagle falls to the ground coughing up blood. "Shawn…" But he was too distracted that he didn't notice the dog pirate behind him.

"Behind you!" Fox yelled out. But before Kazufox could turn around, the dog shoots him in the back hitting the propeller sending Kazufox to his knees. Fox then fired at the canine in the head taking him out. He then ran over to the younger fox. "Are you alright?" Fox asked worried.

"I've…been better." Kazufox groaned.

"Some of your wounds are reopened."

Neither of them knew that Ronnie had been hiding in some nearby bushes watching the entire battle. He finds his chance now and carefully sneaks up towards the two foxes with his knife. He slowly came behind Fox and raised the knife ready to strike.

As Fox continued looking at the alter fox's injuries, he sensed something. "_Something's not right._" Fox thought to himself. He then turned around with the blaster in his hand ready to fire at the rabbit soldier.

"Look out!" Kazufox said as he used his alter to push Fox out of the way. He couldn't move himself because of the shot to his leg. He looked up and saw the blade connect with the alter eye, and as it penetrates through the already cracked eyepiece, a chunk of the blade breaks off as it cuts through into the eye. Kazufox screams out loudly in pain as the blade continues to cut through.

"Damn, I missed McCloud." Ronnie said, "But this will still work out at least taking out a traitor! You know something kid?" The rabbit asked pushing the knife even further making the fox cry out even louder, "I never really liked you." Suddenly, the rabbit felt a huge amount of pain shoot through his body. The pain felt so intense that he couldn't even scream.

Fox gets up to see what happened and when he sees what the pirate did and the drops of blood forming a puddle in the grass, he was in shock thinking the worst had happened to the other vulpine. "No!" Fox yelled out aiming his blaster. Fox didn't fire though because he found out that it was the pirate that was the one bleeding.

Ronnie looked down to try and find the source of his pain. He was horrified to see an orange arm sticking inside him with blood slowly oozing out and slowing pushing through.

"Do _you_ want to know something Ronnie?" Kazufox said as he pushed through until he felt the pirate's spinal cord and grabbed onto it, "I never liked you either!" He then crushes the rabbit's spine and with the pirate's last breath screamed as his body fell over backwards limp. The alter fox then rips his arm out letting the body fall to the ground.

Fox ran over and saw the dead body and got a cold shiver down his back when he saw the rabbit with his eyelids still opened and face frozen in agony with a hole in his stomach. He looked over to Kazufox and saw that he still had the knife in his eye.

"Kazufox…Your eye."

"Don't worry, I'll get it." Kazufox said as he grabs the base of the weapon with his blood-covered alter arm. He clenched his teeth and with one strong tug, jerked his head back and had pulled out the knife. He pulled his head back forward whining in pain as the eyepiece was reforming the eye.

"How did you do that?" Fox asked with a surprised look on his face.

"I'll explain later." Kazufox said groaning in pain rubbing his eye, "Let's go."

----

"Damn, nothings working!" Wolf cursed as he banged on the controls of his Wolfen.

"Wolf, I've got an idea." Leon said, "I'm not sure if it'll work though."

"At this point I'm willing to try just about anything."

"What if we use those alter users to power-up the ships? If they can attach to each other then why not try our ships. Remember that shield?"

"It's worth a shot. Not like we have any other options." Wolf agreed.

"What? I don't want such horrid things to even touch my darling Wolfen…" Panther protested.

"You will and you'll deal with it!" Wolf shouted at the feline. Wolf looked over to the ground of masked soldiers and pointed, "You three, form your alters and attach them to the Wolfens." The masked soldiers did as they were told and formed their hand alters and attached them to the three Wolfens. The ships then began to finally start up. "It worked. It actually worked."

"That's incredible!" Exclaimed Panther.

"But why just stop there when we could add more power to our ships?" Leon added.

"That's not such a bad idea." Wolf nodded.

"I guess I'll do it if I must." Panther sighed facing the group, "Now then, I want you to form those hand alter things and attach them to our ships." Some of the refined alters obeyed while the others did not listen. "What is it now!? Wolf already instructed you to obey _my_ commands also so form those alters already!" The other group formed giant dark gray bird-like creatures that were almost the size of the Wolfens. The alter birds had four red eyes and razor sharp beaks. "Well that's certainly different."

"Different group, different alters." Wolf said turning back to the other pirates still grounded, "Alright everybody, listen up! Leon, Panther and I will take these birds with us while you try to get as many ships as you can loaded onto the carrier. And if you can't get it then set it on self detonate mode. Once we take on McCloud's team, take the carrier and head back to base. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" The remaining armored pirates shouted in unison.

----

In the skies above, Ralph continues flying in his damaged ship. His was one of the lucky ones in better condition until he was being chased by an Arwing.

"Damn you Starfox." The gator cursed, "Get lost!" He tried his best to escape but his ship couldn't out maneuver the Arwing. "We really need better ships." He said to himself. Ralph then caught a glimpse of everything down below. To his horror, he found the bodies of the other pirates including two of the bodies that he recognized. "Shawn…Ronnie!" Not too far in the distance he saw Kazufox and Fox McCloud. "No…It can't be…Kazufox…?" Ralph said sadden to find out that he was with Starfox. The gator then figured that they sent him in as a spy the entire time. At this, his anger grew and his rage soon took over. "Damn you…Damn you to hell Fox McCloud!!"

----

"I've got you now!" Slippy said as the enemy ship was locked in his sights. When he fired, the ship had made a sharp turn towards the ground. "Where's he going?"

Krystal gasped, "He's heading towards Fox!"

"Oh no you don't!" Falco said giving chase firing at the ship but it dodges most of the shots. As the ship continues going down, Falco manages to damage the left wing causing the ship to pull up. Fox saw the incoming ship and pulled Kazufox to the ground and with the blaster, fires underneath the ship.

"That was a close one." Falco said.

"Falco, it's turning back. You need to shoot it down now!" Krystal said worried.

"I'm on it!"

----

"Was that…oh no." Kazufox said looking around for any means of communication to the pilot.

"What are you doing!?" Fox asked as he grabbed Kazufox's arm, "We've got to get back to the Arwing!"

Kazufox pulled away as the propeller started spinning sending him over to Ronnie's dead body. He searched the body until found a wireless radio in the jacket. He turned towards the direction the ship was coming from as it came back again. "Ralph? Ralph! Are you in there? Is that you?" There was no answer. "Answer me you stupid bastard!" After a long pause, a voice came over the radio.

"Kazufox…" The voice crackled over the radio.

"Ralph, it _is_ you!"

"Why…"

"Huh?"

"Why the hell didn't you say that you were with Starfox all along!?"

"What? No! This isn't what it looks like!"

"Then tell me, what _does_ it look like!?"

"I only met up with Starfox after I left. But I'm not one of them! I just need their help right now. Ralph, I've seen their ships and they're more advanced than yours. If you stop then I can help get you out of all this."

"I'll never stop fighting, even if it means that I lose my life. I want Fox McCloud dead!!"

"No, Ralph! Don't do this, please! I'm begging you!"

"Stay out of my way!"

"Don't do this! Ralph!" The gator had turned off his radio. "You idiot, why don't you just listen to me!?" The fox yelled as he threw down the radio.

"Kazufox!" Fox called out running towards the alter fox. Fox then stopped when he noticed a ship heading directly towards him.

----

"This time you're mine!!" Ralph roared, his ship heads on a one-way course towards Fox while still being shot at from behind. "It doesn't matter, once I kill McCloud, It's over for those Cornerian dogs! And I'll finally have my revenge on them." He then saw Kazufox move into his path. "Get out of my way!"

"Ralph! Don't do it!" Kazufox pleaded, "You're just gonna get yourself killed!"

"Kazufox! Get away from here!" Fox ordered.

The ship continues its path towards them. "Please Ralph." Kazufox said as he raised his alter arm, "Don't make me do this!"

----

"What is he…No! You fool! Get outta there!" Falco yelled out as he fired on the ship and manages to destroy the right wing.

"It's too late!" Slippy cried out.

----

With one powerful punch, Kazufox stops the ship in midair after being pushed back several feet. The ship only continued to push its way through causing the damaged engines began to strain.

"Fox, I don't know how long I can keep this up. So get going!"

"I can't just leave you here!"

"Go!"

Fox then reluctantly cleared out of the way.

"Get back here!!" The gator yelled out.

"Ralph! Get out of there! It's gonna blow!" Kazufox yelled out. The engines continued pressing against Kazufox but they didn't move. It wasn't until his damaged leg then nearly caused him to collapse that the ship started pushing him back more. The fox soon found some ground and stopped the ship's motion again.

"If you're gonna stand in my way then I'll take you down also!" The desperate pirate hollered as he continued pushing his ship until the controls began to combust. The only option now was for him to eject but his stubbornness refused to let him try and run out. It wasn't until a picture had fallen out of his jacket and into his lap that he finally regained his senses. "What…am I doing?" He asked himself. Ralph looked out and saw Kazufox trying to stop his ship. "Whoa, with his strength, he could've just easily crushed this ship. But instead he's…I'm sorry kid." The alligator apologized, "You were right, I let my rage get the best of me. And now…Heh, you really do remind me of him. Maybe, if he had the same power as you do, then maybe he could still be alive right now."

Kazufox continues to be slowly pushed back trying not to destroy the ship but he knows that if he lets it go that it would be shot down and destroyed. "Ralph! What the hell are you doing!?" The vulpine screamed out with tears in his eyes. He realized that the pirate was taking too long. He then used his alter eye, locking onto the cockpit, to check inside the ship and saw the gator smiling at him.

The gator saw the expression of shock and worry on the fox's face. "Good, he can see me. I've got one last thing to tell ya."

Kazufox saw the gator mouth to him something only making the vulpine cry even more, "No…no! Get out of there you idiot!!" He screamed as loud as he could. The engines, strained and overheated, had finally reached its limits and then explode. The force of the blast sent Kazufox flying back hitting the ground. He looked up to see falling chunks of metal from where the ship was once being blocked, "No…Oh God, no!" Kazufox said groaning in pain trying to get up and limp his way over to where the explosion was. He then fell to his knees with tears streaming down his face. "You stupid bastard…" The vulpine sobbed as he returned to his regular natural form, "Why didn't you try to get out?"

Fox went back over to the alter fox. He saw how he was crying because of the ship that he destroyed. Fox realized that everything Wolf said really was the truth. He then hears a loud cry in the distance and looks over seeing a flock of the giant bird alters as well as the Wolfens. "Wolf." Fox said to himself, "Come on, we have to get back to the Arwing." Fox grabs Kazufox's arm and tries to pull him up but didn't move. Fox knew that there was no use in trying to move him so he hurries to his Arwing alone.

----

Slippy flies his ship trying to escape the bird creatures. "Shoo! Go away!" Slippy said doing everything he can to avoid being chased. The bird alters opened their beaks and fired lasers at the Arwing. It wasn't until Falco swooped in and shot down one of the birds with a charged shot Slippy was saved yet again, but that only caused the others to chase after the falcon.

"Jeez, what are these things?" Falco said while doing barrel rolls trying to dodge their fire.

"They're like the same thought patterns I was sensing from be-aah!" Krystal screamed as her ship was under fire.

"Krystal! Gah!" Falco shouted as his ship was hit.

"Heh, you've got other things to worry about bird." A voice said over the intercom.

"Leon! I should've known you guys were behind all this."

Leon's Wolfen along with some of the bird alters chase after the Arwing.

"The sooner this is over the sooner I get to talk to Krystal." Panther said.

"Don't get too attached Panther." Wolf said, "She won't be around long."

"Ah, but it's so hard not to."

"Well, if you want Krystal to be okay then why not stop chasing me and go help her?" Slippy asked.

"Nice try, but sadly orders are orders." Panther said as he continues to chase after Slippy's leaving Krystal to Wolf.

"I see McCloud isn't here so I'll just take care of you myself." Wolf said firing on Krystal's ship. Krystal manages to pull her ship out of the line of fire and continues trying to dodge.

"It's going to take more than that to stop me." Krystal said.

The bird alters had soon surrounded her ship from all sides preventing her from moving out of the way. This gave Wolf the opportunity to shoot her down and started firing as the Arwing desperately tries barrel rolls to minimize the damage.

"This should finish you off." Wolf said charging up the laser. While he was charging up, he was hit from below and lost pursuit. "What? Who did that?" Wolf asked as he saw two of the birds around Krystal get shot down while the others scattered.

"It's Fox!" Slippy exclaimed.

"About time." Falco said.

"Sorry it took me so long. Krystal, are you alright?" Fox asked.

"Mm-hm. Thanks to you." Krystal nodded.

"Your ship's taken a lot of damage. Head back to the Great Fox."

"But what about that device?"

"It's not here."

"What do you mean not here!?" Falco yelled, "What was all those explosions and lights going on then?"

"I'll explain later." Fox said heading towards Leon's ship, "Let's just take care of Starwolf first. Krystal, it's safe to head back to the ship."

Krystal listens and hurries away from the planet. Fox then begins chasing after Leon and starts firing on him and the birds chasing after Falco giving him the chance to escape. Falco then does a loop and shoots down one of the birds that was following Fox. The two pilots followed behind Panther then they both fired from both sides shooting down some of the enemy fighters and causing the birds and the Wolfen to give up chasing Slippy. Wolf's ship catches up to Fox's and then Wolf used the boosts trying to ram into the Arwing. Fox manages to move out of the way but one of the hand alters on Wolf's ship had hit the right wing. Leon then did the same thing on Falco except when Falco dodged, the hand alters strikes him from below. Fox noticed on the two ship the red hands. Falco manages to regain balance and begins to chase after Leon. He began firing on the lizard but all of his shots missed.

"I see they've gotten a lot better." Falco said.

"It's not them" Fox informed, "It's those things attached to their ships. Try not to get too close. They'll damage your Arwings."

Slippy shoots down another fighter and then chases after one of the birds and starts shooting it. "Darn bird. Go down already!" Slippy shouted impatiently only causing several more bird alters to chase after him trying to shoot the amphibian down. Fox turns his ship and fires a charged shot destroying one of the birds. Wolf took the opportunity to chase after Fox and fires on him. Fox tries his best to move out of the way.

"You may be in your ship now McCloud, but I still have the upperhand." Wolf said as he continued firing.

"Lord O'Donnell, the carrier is loaded and ready for take off." One pirate reported.

"Good, then contact the remaining fighters and have them as escort and head back to base. But I want you to leave heading out the other side of the planet."

"But why?"

"Just do what I say, got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"_If that device is really that important then they'll have the entire army hiding somewhere waiting for us._" Wolf thought to himself, "_And I'm not going to take that chance._"

The carrier then began its ascension into the air. The few remaining fighters then went over to guard the ship as it tries to make its escape.

"They're getting away!" Slippy pointed out.

"Not on my watch!" Falco said trying to give chase. Leon stops Falco when he started firing on him. Falco manages to avoid the damage but the carrier escaped. "Damn, they got away."

"Worry about that later. We've got other problems." Fox said trying to out maneuver Wolf's ship.

----

A small fleet of Katinan ships continues its path towards Fortuna. In the lead flagship, Summers is there in command and Greyson is also there.

"Colonel, we've detected ships around the Fortuna area." One soldier reported.

"What type are they?" Summers asked.

"They appear to be Katinan classed fighters."

"It must've been the escort group." Greyson concluded.

"Contact the squad leader."

An image of a gray husky appears on the main monitor. "Oh, it's you colonel. What can I do for you, sir?" Bill asked.

"I have an assignment for you." Summers answered, "I want you to carefully monitor the situation on Fortuna. And if you detect any energy disturbances then let me know immediately, understood?"

"Yes sir, but isn't that risky?"

"Your ships should be out of range from the planet so you should be safer. I want you to wait there until we arrive, is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Bill said as the connection was closed.

"Have you detected any other ships?"

"No sir, everything is all clear." Another soldier answered.

"You really don't trust Starfox, do you?" Greyson asked.

"It's not whether I trust them or not, it's that I make sure a weapon like that is destroyed and is wiped out of existence."

"I know you still plan on capturing that boy. What about that?"

"Once Starfox finishes their mission _then_ we'll question them about him, but our first priority is to destroy that weapon." Summers said, slightly narrowing his eyes, "And who knows, that boy may have some connections with the weapon also."

The gray cat turned towards the wolf with a surprised look on her face, "Do you really think that's possible?"

The wolf closed his eyes, "At this point with what we have dealt with, just about anything is possible."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Power of the Alters

The battle continues in the Fortunan skies as the Starfox team managed to shoot down most of the bird alters. Fox manages to elude Wolf's pursuit by use of his brakes, and then chases after Wolf's ship. Fox tries to lock on but can't because of the upgraded speed of the Wolfen.

"Come on…lock on already!" Fox said to himself.

"Yeow!" Slippy yelled out, "I've got some on my tail!"

"Time to take you down." Panther said firing on the toad along with the help of a two bird alters.

Falco chases after the Wolfen and the two bird creatures going after Slippy. He then fires a charged shot taking out one of the birds but had caused Panther and the other alter to end their attack on Slippy.

"I've got you now!" Leon said from above firing on Falco's ship.

"Damn, you are such a pain!" The falcon said trying to get away. The bird flies downward then back up with Leon still on his tail. Not even doing barrel rolls was helping his chances of escape much. Falco continued being chased until Panther began firing on him also. "Hey, I could use a little help over here." The avian finally admitted.

Fox then leaves his chase from Wolf and shoots down a bird alter as he heads over to Falco's aid. Wolf turns around and begins shooting at Fox. Fox speeds up using the boosters to try and dodge Wolf's shots then fires on the two other Wolfens causing them to leave Falco alone. Falco flies in Fox's direction shooting lasers at Wolf's ship forcing the lupine to change his course.

Wolf growled then noticed only a few signatures detected on radar so he looks out the cockpit window to see only a few bird alters remaining. He then asked, "What happened to most of those alters?"

"Most of them were shot down." Panther answered.

"Great, more useless birds." Leon sighed.

----

Meanwhile, down below hidden in the bushes, one refined alter soldier remained. Except that his mask had the right eye larger than the other like a camera. And it carefully watched the battle between the two mercenary teams and had been watching everything including Kazufox.

"Well, isn't this interesting." Said Jetter's voice amusingly over the radio inside the mask, "But now it's time to get serious."

----

Slippy was flying after two alter birds with a damaged Arwing. He still followed the birds locking onto one then fired a charged shot taking it down. "Yeah! I got another one!" Slippy cheered. But he then noticed something was wrong when the other bird gave a loud cry and the one that he just shot down began to fly again. The other bird alters that were supposedly shot down also began to fly into the air. They began to merge with the one and form into a larger being. "Huh? F-Fox!" Slippy called out.

The creature began to grow so large that it wasn't hard to notice it.

"What in the world is that thing?" Falco asked in surprise to the rapid growth of the creature. The creature continued to grow and take shape. It was as large as a Venomian battleship. The creature had a gigantic wingspan and the wings were long flat and finger-like, it had a long body that curved at the end to what seemed like a giant engine with a single fin fish-like tail sticking out, and there wasn't a head only large fuchsia colored eye with a dark green ring as its iris. The large black creature had rows of ten light gray hatches lined up on each side of its back.

"What is this now?" Wolf asked.

"Lord O'Donnell, those alters are acting up." A pirate on the carrier informed.

"What do you mean?"

"They're starting to glow and it's starting to freak us out."

"Pay no attention to that and head back to base."

The large eye on the creature began to search for a target and finds Slippy's Arwing. The dark green ring begins to glow. Suddenly in a burst of energy, fired a massive shockblast that completely disintegrates half of the right wing of Slippy's ship.

"I take back what I said about them being useless!" Leon said wide-eyed in surprise.

"Slippy! Are you okay?" Fox asked before taking a few hits from behind.

"You should worry about yourself." Wolf said firing on Fox.

----

"Commander, there's a large energy source that's appeared out of nowhere!" One dog pilot reported.

"Careful guys, this could be the weapon." Bill warned. He then noticed a severely damaged Arwing heading towards the Great Fox. "Fox?"

"He's on the planet." Krystal answered with panic in her voice, "I'm sensing a large power down there and it's not good and I'm not sure the others can handle that _and_ Wolf as well. Please, you've got to help them! Kazufox is there as well and I don't know whether or not he'll survive down there."

"That fox guy?"

"Yes, you need to help them. This thing is too much to deal with along with Wolf!"

"We can't, the weapon-" Bill started to say.

"There is no weapon."

"What do you mean?"

"Fox said that there is no weapon or device down there. Please, you've got to do something!"

"Don't worry, we're on our way." Bill said with determination, "Okay guys, let's move in and back up McCloud's team!"

"Right!" The other pilots' firmly answered.

----

"Colonel! The ships have left the safety zone!" One dog soldier exclaimed.

"What? Contact Grey now!" Summers ordered. Bill's image appeared on the monitor again. "What do you think you're doing? I gave you a direct order to stay put."

"Sorry sir, but Starfox needs our help."

"You fool! You're putting going to get yourselves killed once you're detected they'll active their weapon and wipe you and you squad out!"

"There is no weapon."

Summers stared at the husky with a shocked look on his face, as did several others. There was only silence in the room. "What did you say?" Summers asked finally.

"Fox found the base but the weapon isn't there. I repeat, the weapon is not there."

"No…But how can this be?" Greyson asked.

"Start scanning this entire sector! I want all ships to deploy their fighters and remain on high alert!" Summers commanded, "Put out a broadcast informing all civilian ships to land immediately and tell every military base to be on full alert for any Venomian ships!"

----

Wolf chased Fox underneath the large creature while continuing his attempts in shooting him down. Fox searched around looking for a weak point but found out that the armor was impenetrable. He continued trying to avoid Wolf's fire until he pulled out from under the large beast.

"There's no point in trying to escape." Wolf taunted as he continued his attack. He then noticed something on the ground. Wolf took a closer look, once he realized whom it was, Wolf then turned his ship around and went towards it.

Fox had wondered why Wolf had stopped chasing him. It then hit him that Kazufox was still down below. Fox makes a U-turn and fires the boosts trying to catch up to the Wolfen. The Wolfen began to charge his ship for a devastating charged blast attack at where Kazufox was located, still down on his knees not moving. Fox hurries his Arwing as fast as he can until he pulls up side by side next to Wolf and then rams the ship trying to knock it off course.

"Back off! This kid is mine!" Wolf roared.

"Wolf, I won't let you hurt him anymore!" Fox yelled as he continued pushing his ship against the Wolfen. The hand alters on Wolf's ship grabbed onto Fox's Arwing as they passed over Kazufox, however, only the wind from the ships hit him causing his hair and clothes to flutter in the strong breeze. When the two ships went their different directions, the hands broke off pieces of the wing and G-diffuser.

"You've gotten in my way for the last time!" Wolf yelled turning back to attack. Before he could attack, he realized that someone had locked onto his ship. Laser fire rained from above aimed at the three Wolfens.

"Where did that come from?" Falco asked.

"Help has arrived!" Bill joyously cried out.

"Bill!" Exclaimed Fox, "What are you doing here?"

"A certain blue friend of yours told us that you guys were gonna need some help." The husky replied flying in noticing the large alter creature, "Whoa! What is that?"

"Stay away from its eye." Slippy warned, "That thing's dangerous!"

----

"Looks like they've arrived sooner than we expected." Panther said.

"Damn. We'll retreat for now," Wolf said, "And let that thing take care of them. Starwolf! Let's move out." The three Wolfens began to pull out making their escape.

Fox had noticed the ships leaving and gave chase. "Not this time Wolf!" Fox said, "This time I'm going to take you down!" The alter creature then turned towards Fox and began powering up. Fox manages to move out of the way before the creature fired another blast but Wolf was nowhere to be seen. "Damn! He got away." The vulpine cursed.

"Forget them." Falco said, "Cause if you haven't noticed we've got bigger problems."

"How do we stop it?" Slippy asked.

"We'll just have to keep attacking it until we find something." Fox answered. He then noticed the hatches on the creatures back open. Suddenly, shadow versions of the bird alters began flying out attacking the Katinan fighters. "We can start by taking out those hatches." The Arwings went to work and with the aid of Bill's squad, destroyed seven hatches on the first run. The creature again fires on some of the Katinan ships instantly obliterating them and the only trace left from the blast being the clouds in the distance with round cut outs.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed Bill, "Everyone, avoid combat in front of the eye." At Bill's orders, the Katinan ships continue fighting above and below the creature. The shadow birds were easily destroyed after a few hits but then more were released. "Everyone! The hatches!" Bill shouted out, "We've got to keep from more of these things from popping out!" The ships opened fire on the hatches taking out a few more. The creature gives out a loud cry then pulls away and turns back firing another powerful shockblast.

----

Kazufox is still on the ground as if in a trance. He then looks up, still dazed and sees the giant creature. "_Again…It's all happening again!_" Thought Kazufox staring into the sky above ignoring the battle. Memories of his past soon stir, such as when he destroyed a military airport and had ended up finding one of the council members that was in charge of his capture.

"Please, don't hurt me!" The white shaggy dog begged. He was wearing a brown suit slightly singed by the nearby fires, along with a white shirt and blue striped tie. The dog was on the ground at the mercy of Kazufox in his second alter form with the bulky arm, propeller on his back, and blue eye.

"Hurt you? I'm just gonna kill you." Kazufox replied as he slowly walks towards the canine.

"Please I'm begging you to reconsider!" The shag dog pleaded crawling backwards.

"What about my friends? Or everyone else you bastards refined huh?" Kazufox asked coldly, "Did you give them a chance!?"

The official crawled backwards until he backed into what was left of a wall from the airport. He began to whimper in fear, staring at the alter fox with wide eyes beneath the heavy white eyebrows. The portly canine noticed a blaster from one of the guards nearby and blurted out, "W-wait! I can help you!"

"You? Help me?" Kazufox questioned stopping for a moment.

"Y-yes. As you know, the Cornerian government is interested in your alter power, but let's make a deal. If you come to the mainland with me then we can ends all of this. This way we can help each other out a little." The official explained while slowly reaching for the blaster, getting his paw on the base of the gun, "If help us find the secret behind alter power, we'll leave you and your home alone, what do you say? Otherwise you'll always be hunted down, for the rest of your life."

"I've got a better idea. How about you call your buddies and tell them to call off the attacks otherwise, I'll crush them to pieces!"

"I was hoping that you would be smarter than that." The dog grinned as he picked up the blaster and fired. Kazufox blocked the shot and grabbed the blaster and crushed it.

"That will be the last mistake you'll ever make." The vulpine said as he raised his fist. The canine screamed out for help one last time before Kazufox ended it with one strike.

He also remembers what Musen said to him when they first fought. Kazufox had just beaten a refined tiger alter user and then Musen appeared. The fox went to attack him but the ferret formed an energy shield blocking the attack.

"You're the one refining alter users haven't you!?" Kazufox asked.

"Why yes of course." Eiji answered with a grin, "That young boy you just killed was another of my work. But I know you've seen some of the others."

"So that means…"

"Yes, I'm the reason you're being hunted down like this. But if I had thing _my_ way then you would already be captured and this entire ground would be cleared of _any_ alter users."

"You bastard! I'll make you pay!"

"As long as you have that power, there will always be someone after you. So you might as well surrender it. Or else everyone close to you will suffer and it will be all because of you…"

Kazufox continues to stare into the sky as the ships fly past overhead, some Katinan ships being shot down while shadow bird alters were disintegrated into nothing.

"_How many more…How many more friends will die because of me? Because of this arm!? Because of those bastards that want it so badly?_" Kazufox wondered. "I'll show them…If they want this arm so bad I'll show them why they can't have it." He said beginning to stand up but then a shadow bird noticed Kazufox and went down to attack. It opened its beak and fires at the fox. "Because…this power belongs to me!" Kazufox yelled out as he went into his Shell Shurigun alter form and deflected the blast, then strikes the ground as the bird swooped down and landed on its back. "And anyone that wants my power…I'll crush them!!" He then hits the back of the bird destroying it as he moves up into the air.

----

"Damn, stay still already!" Falco cursed as he tried his best to keep up with the alter creature.

"How can something so big move so fast?" Slippy wondered.

"I'm not sure but we have to keep going." Fox said. "_It must be one of those alter things Wolf was talking about._" Fox thought flying over the large creature waiting for it to release more shadow pawns.

"Hey Fox!" Falco called out, "Got any ideas on how to beat this thing?"

"Not yet, just keep firing. We've got to find a weak point somewhere."

"Fox. Come in, Fox." A voice called out from the radio.

"Krystal?"

"I've analyzed that creature and found its weak point." Krystal informed from the bridge of the Great Fox.

"Well that's great to hear, so where is it?" Falco asked.

"It's located inside the eye."

"Inside?" Fox questioned.

"Yes, the outer part acts like a shield but if you can somehow break through then you should have no problem taking it down."

"Good work Krystal." Fox said opening the communication channel to Bill's ship. "Bill, the weak point is in the eye."

"Right. Okay guys, you heard him. Go for the eye!" Bill ordered.

"Yes sir!" The soldiers responded.

The ships began following after the creature while easily shooting down the shadow bird alters. The creature finally slowed down and fired again but failed to hit anyone that time. The fighter ships then went in for the attack as the creature was recharging. They continued firing until the dark green ring began to glow again.

"Everyone, move out of the way!" Fox yelled out. Suddenly the creature fired another shockblast destroying only a few Katinan fighters.

----

The refined alter still remains hidden and watched the battle from below, keeping in focus the battle that takes place. The camera eye kept everything in view sending all the images to Jetters.

"Do those insects really think they can win?" Jetters gloated. As the leopard watched the battle through the refined alter's mask, something catches his attention. "Hm? What could that be?" He wondered. The refined alter focused on the object. The image showed a red fox jumping from bird to bird by merely punching them. "That boy. How could he have _that_ much power left in him? Unless…He's one of the military's _newly_ refined alter users. Hmph, in any case, this gives me the chance to see what those _naturals_ have been able to come up with."

----

The giant alter creature fires another shockblast destroying one more fighter. Right after the blast, the other ships move in and start firing on the eye. Even after the barrage of laser fire, nothing seemed to be working.

"Fox, this isn't working." Falco complained, "Let's just use the bombs already."

"No, save the nova bombs for after we break that shield." Fox instructed. At that, the ships continued their attack until eventually, a crack appeared in the eye.

"Fox! It's working, there's a crack in the shield!" Slippy informed.

"Commander Grey, did you hear that?" One soldier asked.

"Yeah! Let's keep up the good work!" Bill exclaimed.

"You ugly freak! We'll show you what we're made of!" Another solder yelled out. Suddenly his ship was rocked by something. At first he thought he got careless and was hit but when he looked out, he saw a young vulpine on his left wing. "C-commander! There's a fox on my wing!"

"A fox?"

"Yeah, a kid and he's-aah!" The pilot screamed as his ship was violently rocked. He had his eyes shut thinking that he was done for, but when he realized he was still alive, he looked over, he saw that the fox and half of his wing was gone. He then saw the vulpine above him destroying another shadow bird. "Th-that kid just damaged my ship!"

Bill then noticed the vulpine also and realized that it was Kazufox. "Whoa…what is that kid?" He wondered.

"Bill!" Fox's voice called out, "Move out of the way!"

Bill realized that he was in front of the alter creature and it was about to attack again. Bill tries to pull his ship out before the creature fired again. He escapes the blast with only damage to his wings.

"Bill, are you okay?" Fox asked worriedly.

"Yeah but I found that kid that was with you."

"Kazufox?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"That's impossible!" Falco protested, "How could he even make it up this high without a ship?"

"See for yourself." Slippy said as he pointed towards the front of giant flying alter.

Fox looked over to see a figure heading towards the creature taking out the shadow birds and damaging Katinan fighters in the way. He flew around to get a better view and saw that it _was_ Kazufox and he landed on the center of the eye around the cracked area.

----

"I'm going to end all of this…Starting with you!!" Kazufox yelled out as he began punching at the crack with his slightly damaged alter arm. Soon enough, the crack started to grow larger causing the creature to cry out in pain as it took every punch. Some of the shadow birds redirected their attention towards Kazufox and went after him. The birds began firing and pecking at him with their sharp beaks. "Get the hell away from me!" Kazufox said swiping his alter arm firing a blast of energy destroying one of birds while the Katinan fighters shot down the other shadows. Kazufox noticed the green ring began to glow again. "Oh no you don't!" He yelled out striking the eye. The impact of the partially charged eye released a shockwave sending Kazufox flying back. The propeller on his back began to spin maintaining his balance and he flew back ready to attack. "I'll show you my power!!" Kazufox yelled trying to move his left arm, "Come on. Move already!" He slowly began lifting the arm and his wounds were opened even wider but instead of blood, there was a shining light glowing. As the light shined brighter, the muscles in the arm began to tear at the strain of power being held inside. Then the forearm disintegrated and reformed like the right alter arm. He strikes the eye with his left and simultaneously punches it over and over cracking it slightly with every hit. As he continued pounding, the fox's power grew as all his wounds began shining and orange armor started materializing at different places on his body, the tail of the propeller started growing, the eyepiece extended to the side of his face like a blade and his hair began turning bright red and growing. He felt something inside him start to crack almost shatter and he screamed out in pain but he then resumed the attacking.

"If this is what it takes to stop them…So be it!" Kazufox yelled out drawing back both of his fists, "I don't care anymore!!" He punches with both fists at the same time creating a large explosion that sent him flying and shattered the creature's shield but also his own in the process. He started falling as his alter disintegrated returning him to his normal form. He could only look on at the flying creature before blacking out.

----

Fox found the younger vulpine and pulled his Arwing over to try and catch him. He uses the boosters to catch up and manages to pull under Kazufox. Fox catches him on one of the laser cannons next to the damaged G-diffuser from earlier. Fox lands his ship in a small clearing and got out to check on the alter fox. He saw that he needed medical attention otherwise he wouldn't survive. Fox knew that in the vulpine's current condition, that flying him all the way back to the Great Fox would only make his condition worst and the only way he could safely get Kazufox out was to land the ship and take him aboard that way but he would have to destroy the alter creature before he could do that. Fox lays the younger fox's body on the grass.

"Don't worry, I'll come back." Fox promised before he ran back to his ship and took off. However, Kazufox wasn't alone as the hidden refined alter was there watching.

"_Such power…_" Jetters thought to himself, "_It's amazing how this kid can do that much damage. This proves that he's a refined alter, it has to be. And possibly another that's unstable._" The leopard watched and then grinned to himself. "But why waste someone of his talents? I could always use another powerful subordinate on my side even if he doesn't have long to live. You," Jetters called to the soldier, "I want you to take him and put him in the recovery capsule, understood?"

The masked soldier only gave a few grunts.

"Ah yes, our _guest_." The leopard said with a wicked smile, "I suppose you can let him out. This battle is just about over anyways. I was hoping there would be more casualties than this."

The refined alter user nods and goes over to Kazufox. It picks up the unconscious vulpine and carries him over its shoulder before disappearing back into the woods.

----

Fox returns to the battle shooting down some more shadow alters that was tailing a Katinan fighter. He flew his Arwing over toward the alter creature.

"Fox you're back." Slippy said, "Is everything alright?"

"What's the condition of the enemy?" Fox asked sternly.

"Uh, the shield is destroyed. Its weak point is wide open for attack."

"Good, let's hurry up and beat this thing."

"Man, someone's in a big hurry." Falco muttered to himself.

The three Arwings flew in formation with Fox as lead while Slippy takes left wing and Falco right. As the three went in closer to attack the creature, the shadow birds had gathered in front of the eye. Fox went in shooting down several of the birds as did Slippy. Falco then pulled up from the rear in having to deal with just a few of the birds and went in front of the eye and steered over to the opening where the shield was broken. He then fires a nova bomb and it hits right inside the eye. The explosion caused the creature to cry out in pain as a rush of flames shot out from the eye breaking even more of the shield.

"Gotcha!" Falco exclaimed watching the damage being done.

"Yes!" Krystal cheered, "One more should finish it."

The hatches on the creature's back opened again trying to release more shadow alters but they were be destroyed before they could even get out as flames were being flared up from within the beast.

"Open fire!" Bill ordered, "Don't let those things get out!"

The Katinan ships attacked the birds as they tried to go and protect the exposed shield. Meanwhile, the shadow alters already in front of the eye began forming a protective covering for the eye.

"Fox!" Slippy cried out, "Those birds are forming another shield!"

"Let's finish this now." Fox said flying back around for another attack.

Slippy moved in but was being shot at by another shadow bird. Falco's Arwing swooped in and shot it down.

"I'll hold these things off, you take care of that thing." Falco instructed.

The creature was moving around and flailing making it hard to lock onto. Slippy finally had a lock on the target and fired a nova bomb into the eye. However, the shadow barrier shifted to block the bomb saving the creature at the cost of its barrier.

"No, I missed!" Slippy complained, "Fox, that blast should've destroyed the barrier. You've got to hurry before it forms another one!"

Fox flew around being chased by a few shadow birds until Falco began firing on the birds destroys them letting Fox make his way over to the front of the creature. Fox was as it tries to make its escape. He was confronted with more bird alters but Slippy had managed to distract them long enough for the vulpine to get a clear shot. Fox had lock on and was ready to fire but he remembered how the shield blocked Slippy's shot and decided to fly his ship closer, just barely inside the eye before he fired. Fox pulled a U-turn and fired up the boosters to escape before the bomb went off. The creature gave another loud cry as it soon stopped flapping its gigantic wings and the bird alters began to disappear and fade away. Explosions occurred throughout the creature's massive body, fires sprouting from each of the hatches on its back, and the engine piece of a tail started to catch fire as well.

"They beat it!" Bill exclaimed, "Alright guys, time to clear out."

The Katinan ships moved away as more explosions occurred. Suddenly, a large beam of light shot out of its eye socket before the creature was destroyed in a massive explosion.

----

The Starwolf team was finally able to catch up with the carrier containing the refined alter users as they made their way back into the asteroid field towards the base hidden inside. Wolf was reflecting on the battle and the losses he suffered as well as the new secrets he had discovered, which was mainly with his new found recruits.

"Boss! Come in!" One pirate cried out over the radio.

"What is it?" Wolf asked slightly annoyed.

"Those masked guys! They're…they're dead!"

Wolf paused for a moment, "What did you say!?"

"Those masked guys were acting weird and then they stopped glowing and fell to the floor dead!"

"How can that be?"

"Looks like McCloud's team managed to beat out monster." Leon scoffed.

"This isn't good…" Panther groaned.

"What? Does this mean that after those alters are beat, the users die?"

"Apparently so." The feline sighed.

"Dammit!!" Wolf roared as he slammed on his controls.

"Wolf, for our sakes, let's just hope those other alters are stronger than the ones that we sent out." Leon warned.

----

After the explosion had cleared, there wasn't any trace of the alter creature.

"Woohoo! We finally beat it!" Slippy cheered.

"Nice shot Fox." Falco congratulated. He then noticed Fox's Arwing heading towards the ground. "Hey Fox, aren't you gonna say some-"

"ROB, bring in the Great Fox." Fox ordered, "Prepare for an emergency pickup." The others are silenced by Fox's words. He lands his Arwing in the clearing he left Kazufox and heads out.

"Fox, what's the problem?" Falco asked, "Fox!" He didn't receive an answer. "Dammit." The avian cursed under his breath as he lands his ship down next to Fox's.

"I hope everything's okay." Slippy said concerned.

"I hope so too." Krystal added. "_I just hope that other powerful presence that I sensed wasn't Kazufox._" The blue vixen thought.

----

Falco jumps out of his Arwing and heads over to Fox. "Hey Fox, mind explaining to me what's going on?" The falcon asked impatiently.

"It's Kazufox." Fox blurted out, "He needs medical attention, now!"

"What? You mean that kid really did cause that explosion?" Falco asked but soon found his answer from watching his frantic leader searching around, "So where is he?"

"I don't know. I left him right here, I'm sure of it! Damn! I shouldn't have left him here all alone!"

"Take it easy Fox." Falco said putting on wing on Fox's shoulder, "We'll find him."

"Hey, is everything alright?" Slippy's voice asked from the Arwing's radio.

Falco ran back over and answered, "Tell Krystal to get the medical bay ready."

"What is it?" Krystal asked.

"It's that guy, Fox says that he needs some medical help right away."

"Oh no." The blue vixen gasped, "I'm coming down. I can help you track him down faster."

"That's a good idea." Slippy said, "I'll keep a lookout from up here."

Bill had figured something was wrong so he decides to land his ship and as Fox himself. "Hey Fox, what's the problem?"

"Kazufox. He's hurt and I can't find him."

"I'll call for a search." The husky said as he ran back to his ship. After informing the other ships, some of the fighters landed and went into the woods searching for the vulpine. The Great Fox soon appeared in the sky and the Landmaster was launched from it using its boosters to make a smooth landing. Krystal jumped out of the tank and went over to Fox.

"Have you found him yet?" She asked.

"No, not yet." Fox answered, "I don't understand. I left him _right here_!" He then noticed some Katinan ships in the air and that one of them was coming in for a landing. He figured that it must've been the flagship.

"Looks like the military is here." Krystal said before suddenly falling silent, "Fox, I'm sensing faint thought patterns."

"Krystal, I want you to take the Landmaster and go check it out. If it is Kazufox then inform Slippy and have him help carry him back to the ship."

"But can't the army help?"

"It's too risky. I have a feeling they didn't come to see about the weapon alone."

Krystal soon understood what Fox meant and nodded hurrying back to the Landmaster and drove off.

----

A minute later, the Katinan flagship had landed. A black furred wolf exited the ship accompanied by a gray striped feline and several soldiers. Summers looked around and saw the Arwings and Katinan fighters that were on the ground.

"I want one group to stay with the ship, the next group is to go with the lieutenant and search for anything." Summers ordered, "Everyone else will come with me. Lieutenant, I leave things here in your care."

"Understood colonel." Gresyon said giving a salute, "Let's move out and search the area." The cat went off with a group of soldiers to secure the area.

"Colonel!" Bill called out, "You're finally here."

"It's Grey, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Give me an update on the situation."

"When we arrived, this huge flying thing started attacking us but we managed to beat it with the help of Starfox." Bill noticed the wolf had slightly narrowed his eyes at him. "But we also confirmed that Starwolf was here."

"Were you able to capture them?"

"No sir, they got away."

Summers didn't say anything towards that. He merely looked around seeing some soldiers that were with Bill searching around for something. "Are you having your men search for the base?"

"Uh, no sir."

"And why not?"

"Because there's a boy missing and he needs medical attention." Bill explained.

The colonel remained silent for a moment. "Very well, continue with your search. Report back directly to me when you find him."

"Yes sir!" Bill said giving a salute before heading back to his search group. Summers looked around and found Fox and Falco also searching nearby and walked over to them.

"McCloud." He called out.

"Colonel, what are you doing here?" Fox asked.

"I felt that a situation of this importance calls for my present and immediate attention." The wolf replied, "Now moving on, one of our soldiers was told that there wasn't a device on this planet. Explain."

Fox glanced at the soldiers doing their 'cleanup' duty then looks back at Summers explaining, "During my search on the planet, I found the base that we suspected was here but there was no weapon in there. And during my encounter with Starwolf, I was even told that they didn't even have any kind of device like the one were after."

"And you believed him?"

"Wolf has no reason to lie about it."

"Did you find out why they were here in the first place?"

"Yes, Wolf said that there was a certain frequency that only Venomian ships can detect and someone from _our_ side had activated it."

"_It must've been that agent from Corneria._" The colonel thought. "Can you show me the base? And I'd also like to know what happened with that creature you fought against." Fox nods his head and they start walking along with a group of soldiers towards the location of the lost Venomian base.

----

Not too far off in the distance, lies a group of bodies that were of the pirates the two foxes had taken down. None of them were moving except one. Shawn started to hear voices and thought help had finally came. When he opened his eyes, he saw only two soldiers standing over what seemed to be a body. He couldn't tell who's it was since the two were in the way but he knew that the guy had white fur. The avian also saw what looked like a photo that had its edges burnt. Shawn realized that it was Ralph's picture and with the little strength he had left reached over and grabbed the picture before the wind blew it away.

"Man, this one had his back ripped out." One of the solders noted.

"I wondered who did this?" The other soldier wondered.

"You think it was McCloud's team?"

"No way, they could've done something like this."

"I guess. But they can do the impossible." The soldier said moving the corpse over causing the upper half to slump to the side.

"You got a point." The other soldier cringed seeing the frozen expression of the rabbit's face staring at him. "Man, I'd really hate to be that guy."

"Yeah, no kidding." The first soldier said, He then noticed something nearby.

"What is it?"

"I thought I saw something move."

"Let's go check it out." The two soldiers walked over towards Shawn's body with their blasters drawn while checking for life signs from the other space pirates'. The two surrounded the eagle's body but didn't see any movement.

"This is where you saw something?"

"Yeah, I could've sworn I saw this guy move."

"You watch too many movies. No way this guy could still be alive." The second soldier said nudging his boot into the avian's side. Shawn then flailed his arm at the soldier and started gasping for air. The soldier had jumped back and fell backwards out of shock. "Holy cow! He really _is_ alive!" The surprised soldier said in shock.

"Lieutenant! Come quick!" The other soldier called out.

"What is it?" Greyson asked running over.

"There's someone still alive!"

"Get the paramedics over here now!" The feline shouted to the others.

A medical team had arrived with a hover stretcher. After applying a few needed bandages, they gently and swiftly lifted Shawn's body onto the platform. Before they carried Shawn away back to the ship, the pirate hid the picture into his pants pocket.

----

"This is it." Fox said pointing to a pile of rubble, "Or whatever's left."

"What happened?" Summers asked with a dissatisfied look, "What did you do?"

"Wolf did this."

"You expect me to believe that Starwolf would do this to one of his own bases?"

"He knew how bad we wanted it and since he knew we were here, he decided that nobody would get it."

Summers only glared at Fox. The colonel turned and pointed to the soldiers that followed, "I want all of you to start digging. Find whatever you can." Summers ordered. A few of the soldiers groaned at the order but went on anyways. "And I mean hurry it up."

"Yes sir!" The soldiers answered.

Summers kept an eye on his men as they were working, making sure they weren't slacking. "Tell me about the device again." He asked Fox while still keeping an eye on his troops.

"Wolf said there wasn't anything here and what he did to the base proves it."

"I see. Now I'd like for you to tell me a little more about that fox boy. His name was Kazufox, wasn't it?"

"What does he have to do with any of this?" Falco squawked.

"You tell me." The lupine said turning his full attention towards the mercenaries, "You said how he stole some explosives from the base and used on that creature. I doubt that someone with a reputation like yours would send a young man into battle and I would prefer if you didn't lie to my face this time." Fox lowered his head and remained silent. "Well? I'm waiting."

"Wolf got to him." Fox answered, "We…were both captured by Wolf and…he was still inside when Wolf detonated some charges and destroyed the base. That's how we ended up getting separated so I didn't know where he was afterwards."

"Do you know he managed to get on the creature?"

"He was riding on the back of one of those birds Fox told you about." Falco answered.

"And after he set off a bomb on the creature, you said that you caught him and then set him down on the ground before heading back."

"Yes, and I didn't see him after that." Fox replied.

"You're sure he was in that bad of a condition?"

"What do you mean?" Falco asked raising his voice, his temper was running short. Nobody could walk after an explosion as big as what we saw!"

"I have some doubts about what you're saying because someone in that condition should not be able to move on his own and Wolf and his group already left, so I want answers as to where you're hiding him."

"Colonel!" One soldier called out, "We found something!"

"I'll be there in a second!" Summers said to the soldier before turning back to Fox and Falco, "If you'll excuse me, we'll continue this conversation later. In the mean time, I want you and your team to clear out."

"What? But Kazufox is still here." Fox barked, "We can't just leave him here!"

"Don't worry, we'll give him the best medical treatment we can."

"Yeah sure, but what do you plan on doing to him after that, huh?" Falco wondered.

Fox had noticed Slippy's Arwing returning to the Great Fox. "Falco." He called.

"But Fox-"

"It may be the best thing to leave it in their hands. Let's go." Fox said as he turned to leave. Falco looked back at the wolf and then started walking after Fox.

----

"Fox, you want to tell me what's the deal?" Falco asked, "We're just gonna leave him here?"

"No, we're not leaving him. Slippy and Krystal should've found him by now. But I have a feeling that the colonel thinks that Kazufox may somehow be involved in all of this."

"Involved? How?"

Fox hesitated to answer, "I'll explain on the ship."

"Are you sure it was a good idea to tell him about how he damaged that thing?"

"I had to tell him. He would've found out sooner or later about it and he already doesn't trust us. And the last thing we need is for him to search our ship."

----

Summers and his group had returned back to the landing grounds with the four refined alters' bodies. He watches as the Landmaster heads back to the Great Fox and the two Arwings that soon followed. Summers heads over to where Greyson is noticing everyone else was either finishing up with their search or packing up. "Anything to report?"

"After we secured the area, we found one survivor and we believe that he's with O'Donnell's group of thugs." Greyson informed. "Did you have any luck with the base?" she asked. She then noticed the bodies.

"Apparently, Starwolf became desperate and destroyed it. But there's something about these bodies that are somewhat different."

"We've found bodies similar to those around here too. Do you think they could be somehow connected to that weapon?"

"It's too early to say that."

"And what about the boy?" Greyson asked in a whisper, "I know that you haven't given up your search just because of this."

"I don't plan to. But the more I think about it, that kid might be apart of all this. I know he has some connections to this in some way. But until we find him, we won't know for sure. We'll take what we have for now and return with some digging equipment." He then paused for a minute. "I thought you said this area was secured?" He asked drawing his blaster.

"I'm sure it was. I was checking also." Greyson said also pulling out her blaster.

The two looked over towards the woods waiting for whatever was hiding to come out. The rustling of the bushes started to get louder getting the attention of other soldiers.

"Everyone, get ready." Summers ordered. The rustling became louder. Out of the bushes came a light gray husky soldier running over towards them. Summers remember that it was probably the Cornerian spy that had been sent there. "Hold your fire!" He ordered.

"Hey! Are you the one in charge here?" The canine soldier asked running over towards the wolf while breathing hard from his running.

"Yes, I'm Colonel Summers." The wolf replied seeing the soldier was in a frenzied state, "Take a deep breath, follow me to the ship and you can explain to me what happened."

"Colonel, you've got to listen to me now!" The soldier pleaded, "It's important!"

"You need to calm down, we'll take you back to base with us and you can explai-"

"No!" The soldier interrupted, "You've got to listen. There is no weapon like the one that can control Solar that exists. It was a distraction to keep us fooled!"

Most of the soldiers then paid attention to what the husky was speaking, many soldiers went silent and had confused looks on their faces. "What do you mean?" Summers asked.

"It's O'Donnell." The canine huffed out, "He's found something called 'alter users'."

"Alter users?"

"Yes, they created the illusion that Solar was attacking! It was a fake!" The soldier said in a raspy voice, and soon started coughing like mad.

"Calm down, let's head to the ship and then we can talk more about these 'alter users'."

"No! They plan on doing something else. They plan to-" But before the dog soldier could finish, a laser shot from behind had pierced through his chest causing the husky to drop to the ground.

"Open fire!" Summers yelled out. He and the others fired at where the shot had come from, which was in a tree. "Hold your fire!" Summers shouted out when he saw something fall from the tree. A few soldiers went to go scope out the scene looking for whatever fell, being careful if it was a trap.

Greyson hurried over to the unconscious husky pressing two of her fingers to his neck, "Wesley, he's still alive. I've got a pulse!"

"Let's get the medics over here!" The wolf barked out even as the medical team was already rushing over. They wasted no time and lifted the soldier onto the hover stretcher and carried the wounded soldier into the ship.

"Colonel Summers!" A soldier called out, "Come take a look at this."

Summers motioned for other soldiers to follow towards where the group was located. When Summers arrived, he saw another of those masked soldiers except this one had a larger right eye on the mask and near it, a sniper rifle.

"Let's take this one out also." The colonel said. The soldiers picked up the body and carried it out. "_Alter users._" The wolf thought to himself, "_What exactly are they? And what if that boy is one also? One thing is for sure, I don't like where this is going._"

----

"Good, they've got our message." Jetters said, "If everything goes to plan, those fools will turn towards Starwolf. That should take the heat off us for the moment, long enough for me to bring in that fox boy and then I'll have another powerful alter user at my side." Jetters smiled at the thought and gave a few chuckles as another figure stands in the room, a large one at that. The large figure gave a few grunts.

"Cheer up Metalfists, I'm doing you a favor by doing this." Jetters said with a small grin of satisfaction on his face, "Afterall, I'll need more than just one subordinate at my side once I take command."

----

Somewhere down on Corneria near one of the laboratories, a desert coyote in a lab coat looks on from a distance. He examines the area closely through his zoom goggles checking from the security gates all the way to the military laboratory.

"So this is where it is. Kids are so reckless." The coyote sighed to himself shaking his head, "For our sakes, I hope this one didn't get captured. I better hurry up and get it back before things start to get out of hand."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Break In

Down on Corneria, a blue hover car heads towards a laboratory only to stop at the security gate first. There was two guards stationed at the gate, one was a dark furred hound and the other being a gray hare. Neither recognized the car to belong to any of the other employees that worked there. The dog guard went over to the car and lightly tapped on the window on the driver's side. After the window rolled down, a coyote in a lab coat greeted the hound.

"Hello, is there a problem?" The coyote asked with an innocent smile.

"I need to see some ID." The guard answered.

"Oh, right." The scientist said pulling out his identification card and handed it to the canine. The dog looked at the picture of the coyote and the name Christian Anders.

"Well…Dr. Anders, are you new around here?"

"You could say that." The scientist chuckled, "I was transferred here from Zoness."

"Zoness huh. I'll have to run a check on this, it will only take a few minutes." The hound said before heading over to the security station where his hare partner was stationed. The hare checked through the file database and found the name of the coyote and the file also showed that he was to be transferred to work on a special project, which happened to be the same one as Beltino. At that, the canine hurried back to the car. "Sorry for the delay Dr. Anders." The canine said handing back the card.

"That's no problem." The coyote smiled. The hound nodded to the hare to open the gate. Once the gate was opened, the blue car went on its way to the labs. "_That was almost too easy._" The coyote thought to himself taking a deep breath, "_I can't believe security here is so easy to get by._"

----

Fox and Falco had returned to the Great Fox before the ship left Fortuna. The two hurried towards the medical bay room. When they reached the room and went in, they found Slippy working connecting cables on some machine and Krystal was standing to the side.

"What is that?" Falco asked pointing to the strange device.

"And where's Kazufox?" Fox questioned, "Were you able to find him?"

"Yes, we were but…" Krystal started to say.

"But what? If you found him then where is he?" Falco wondered. Krystal pointed over to the machine Slippy was working on. The two looked over and inside the capsule device. "I don't see anything." Falco said, "Nothing but water."

"Hold on, I think I see someone inside." Fox said staring through the glass.

"Let me finish hooking these last few cables. Then you'll see." Slippy said.

"Hurry up Slippy!" Krystal said out of worry.

"I'm almost done. Just a few more connecting these wires and…got it!" Slippy shouted out, "It should be working now." And Slippy was right, the capsule became active and a small light illuminated from inside the pod showing the body inside. Fox and Falco looked inside to see that it _was_ Kazufox and that he had what seemed like an oxygen mask on his face.

"What is thing and how'd he get in it?" Falco asked.

"This was how I found him." Krystal answered.

"Can we take him out of there?" Fox asked.

"We can't. This machine is the only thing keeping him alive right now." Slippy added.

"Kazufox…"

"But there's more to it than that." Krystal mentioned.

"What do you mean?"

"When I tracked it down with the Landmaster, it didn't even show up on radar. And what's even stranger was I found it hidden in an underground hideaway."

"No way. But who'd want to do that?" Falco wondered.

"Someone that knows what he's capable of." Fox said outloud to himself.

"What do you mean?"

"Guys, there's something about him I have to tell you about him. And it might have something to do with our mission."

----

Back at the labs the coyote under the name of 'Anders' walked through the hallways. He saw many other scientists all around him were working on notes, checking files, or heading to the next room to work. The coyote looked around and knew after wondering around that he was soon lost.

"Wow, I can't believe how big this place is…" The coyote thought to himself. He knew the only way to get around was to ask for directions. He went to the receptionist desk and found a female light gray-feathered pigeon behind the desk. "Excuse me miss, I'm trying to find the records room and I'm a little lost. Could you please tell me where it is?" The scientist asked with a smile.

"Do you have clearance to be there?" The bird girl asked.

"Yes, it's on my card." The coyote said showing his identification card.

"Sure, all you have to do is head down this hallway over here, then follow the signs leading to the C level area and from there, you head over to the 50's area."

"Thanks, but...could you please write that down?"

----

Outside the gates pulled up another car. The dog soldier went over to check to see who the driver was. It was none other than Beltino Toad.

"Oh, hello Dr. Toad." The soldier said.

"Hello, sorry but I'm in a bit of a rush." Beltino said handing the guard his security card.

"That's okay Dr. Toad."

"Just call me Beltino."

"Right, Beltino. Whatever it is you're working on must be important if you're calling in someone all the way from Zoness."

The amphibian looked up at the soldier in surprise. "But I never called in anyone from Zoness."

The hound and the hare both looked at each other with looks of shock and surprise, "Are you sure? His file showed that you wanted him to help work on some project with you."

"Yes, I'm absolutely positive."

"Should we call a search?" The hare asked ready to contact the main building.

"No, no. That won't be necessary. It could have been one of the others who called him in. Or it could even be a mistake or something. But tell me, what did he look like?"

"Well, he's a desert coyote with short brown hair and fur."

"A coyote? What was his name?" The toad asked slightly worried.

"Uh…I believe it was Christian Anders. Why?"

"No reason. Carry on."

The gate was opened allowing Beltino to pass through.

"Hey, contact security anyways." The dog called out to the hare, "Tell them to keep an eye out for a desert coyote in a lab coat."

"What for?" The hare asked, "It could just be that someone else called him in like Beltino said."

"I don't think so, but just tell them to just keep an eye on this 'Anders.'"

As Beltino continued driving thinking about what the guard mentioned about the coyote.

"_A desert coyote…_" The toad thought to himself, "_But it couldn't be him, after all this time? And if it is, then why?_"

----

The coyote continued searching the labs trying to find the records room. He soon found a young male rabbit socializing with a female mouse.

"_Slacker…_" The scientist thought to himself, "_Take care of dating arrangements on your own time. I mean this is a place of work not romance. These new scientists today…no wonder things are still as bad as they are._" He continued searching until he finally found the room. He slides his card through the card swipe and entered a code.

"Let's see…if I remember this correctly then…" The scientist said to himself. The locked then clicked showing that it was opened. He opened the door and entered checking to be sure nobody else was there. The coyote saw the room was empty except for the main computer. "And I thought this room would be busier than this. Well I'm not complaining."

The coyote pulled out a disk and inserted it into the computer. He began running the program on the disk wiping out the firewall and other security systems. After the program had finished loading, he pulled out his PDA and linked it up to the computer and started downloading information including blueprints to the facility, but then a thought of the mouse girl earlier came to mind, "But…she did look cute. Even the receptionist girl too." The coyote said to himself then shaking his head, "No, no, no! I've got to keep focused on the plan, besides I wonder what Cassie would say…'how I got suckered into marrying you, I'll never know.'" Thinking about what his late wife would say only made him heave a big sigh knowing that sometimes he'd wonder as well. Once he finished downloading the information, he places his PDA in his lab coat but leaves the disk still in the computer as he exits the room. "_Now all I need to do now is find a private place where I can then plan my next move…_" He thought.

"Hey, you!" A voice called out.

The coyote nearly jumped out of his fur when he heard that. He looked back only to see a bulldog security guard. "Oh, y-yes? Is there a problem?" The coyote asked.

"I've noticed you've been wondering around. Are you lost or something?"

"Oh, well, you see…I'm just looking for a bathroom. That's all."

The dog groaned. "Down the hallway and make a right. It's at the end of that hall on your left."

"Thank you so much! Well, I'd better be on my way, bye!" The coyote said as he quickly walked off.

"There's something really odd about that guy." The guard said to himself. He looks over at the door to the records room. "And I don't like it."

----

In a desert field, Jetters stands alone without wearing his shirt and garb, against the seven winged dragon alters surrounding him. The leopard too was an alter user. The leopard's body began to glow about to form his alter as the dragons rushed in. In an instant before the dragons could strike, Jetters charged in at them! When Jetters crashed into the alter dragons, he caused a massive explosion wiping out those alters with no problem and had already returned to his normal form with plenty of energy to spare.

"End simulation." The leopard ordered.

The room then grew bright except for a dark window. Jetters soon exited the training room and an avian soldier hands him a towel.

"That was amazing commander." The soldier said, "You just keep getting stronger and stronger!"

"Well of course I am." The leopard boasted wiping himself of his sweat, "But these simulations are far too easy, the old refined alters' combination are no match for me."

"My apologies. But it's just that you've gotten to a level that puts all the others to shame! You're probably the strongest alter user out there, next to the general though."

"Yes, I know that." Jetters said before leaving the room. He walked down to his room to freshen up and get back into his uniform. "_And soon to be the most powerful in the galaxy with the strongest army in history._" He walked thinking to himself. His thoughts were soon interrupted by footsteps.

"Excuse me. Commander Jetters, sir." An ape soldier called.

"What is it?"

"We have some visitors."

"Who is it?"

"It's Suichi and Darian."

"What did you say!?" The Leopard roared.

"S-Suichi and D-Darian." The scared soldier stammered.

"Where are they!?"

"T-they're over in the waiting area."

Jetters threw down the soldier and hurried over. "_Those fools!_" The leopard soon found the room with a mouse sitting down and the horse leaning against a wall. "You idiots! What do you think you're doing here!?"

"Well that's a nice way of welcoming guests." The mouse said sarcastically.

"Shut up you rat!"

"Hey, I'm not a rat!" The mouse said getting up shaking his fist.

"Calm down Suichi." The horse said.

"Don't you fools realize that this is where we must stay out of sight? If we get discovered now the entire plan fails!"

"We weren't followed okay? And for your information Jetters, it was the general that sent us here."

"General Thomas?" Jetters blinked in surprise.

"Yeah! If he never told us to be here then we could care less if you freeze your tail on this snowball of a planet!" Suichi yelled out.

"Our general decided to go into recovery on his own. And he sent us here to make sure you don't try anything." The horse explained.

"_I see, so you don't really trust your own so-called 'bodygaurds'. I wouldn't really trust these two myself._" Jetters thought to himself. "Well since you're here, I want you two to rest up while you can. Once I come back out I'll be keeping you two busy, got it?"

"Yes sir…" The two said reluctantly.

----

A husky scientist walks into the restroom. He heads for the stalls but when he tries to open the door, it was locked.

"This one's occupied!" A voice yelled out.

"Oh, sorry about that." The scientist apologized as he went into another of the stalls.

Inside the locked one was the coyote sitting on the seat checking his PDA. He searched through all the information that he had downloaded.

"I can't _believe_ this place!" He said to himself, "It's is like one big maze, the younger generation are too busy flirting to get any work done and worst of all…a guy can't get _any_ privacy in a bathroom! What has this world come to?"

The coyote soon found something that he was searching for. "Okay…it's located in the D level the lowest area, no surprise there. D…105. Now to check the blueprints and…"

The PDA displayed how far the room with whatever he was searching for was in and his current location. "Good, it's not too far away. I'd better check if he's here too." The coyote checked through the PDA files and didn't find any recent test subjects even in the restricted files. "Good, at least he's safe…I hope." The coyote said hesitant to get up. He sits there for a moment lost in his thoughts with a sad look in his eyes. "Better not waste any more time."

----

Beltino knew that he was late. And after talking to the guards at the gate was even later. He rushed into the room D105, where the weapon Slippy had sent him earlier had ended up.

"Sorry I'm late everyone." Beltino said trying to catch his breath.

"Beltino, you're here. Don't worry about that." An older gray fox said.

"Yes, now then…tell me the details you have about this special blaster I've heard about."

"According to the information your son gave us, this thing contains a highly radioactive energy source." Informed a raccoon scientist, "But as to what it is we don't know yet. That's why we had this transferred over to this building."

"I see. But have you been able to find a way to extract this energy?" Beltino asked.

"No, we've tried various methods but we can't even dent the thing let alone take it apart." The fox said.

"Let me see this blaster."

"It's right over here." The raccoon pointed out. Beltino went over to take a closer look at the platinum colored blaster. "As you can see, it's perfectly sealed tight so nobody can take it apart."

"Hmm…"

"What is it?"

"This thing has the name 'Kite' engraved into it." Beltino noted.

"Yes, we're running a search for anyone named Kite that this weapon may belong to." The fox informed.

"Show me the data we have so far pertaining to this energy source."

----

The bulldog security guard walked back over to the place where he found the coyote. He went over to the records room and used his security key to get inside. He saw that the computer had been recently accessed.

"Lost my butt! I knew that guy was up to something." The guard said to himself. He then noticed a disk still inside the computer. "I'd better take this as evidence." He went to eject the disk and when he did, the computer suddenly began flashing all sorts of colors and random files as it overload itself then it explodes shaking most of the building. The explosion sounded off the alarms.

----

Down in the room Beltino was working in, they too felt the shock of the blast. The three left the room. There was an announcement telling everyone to evacuate the building.

"What's going on!?" Beltino asked one of the running scientists.

"A bomb went off!" The raven answered before he continued running with the others.

"A bomb!? Beltino, we have to evacuate now." The fox said.

The three ran out along with the main group towards the exit. Then it came to Beltino that he forgot something.

"Wait, we have to go get that blaster!" Beltino exclaimed.

"No, it's too dangerous." The raccoon said.

"Still, I have to get it. Slippy and the others are counting on me with it." Beltino said running back to the room. He eventually reaches the room. The toad searched around for the blaster but had no luck finding it. "Where is it?" He wondered until it finally hit him, "Of course! That's what they were after all along!"

----

The blast caused an explosion that the two guards outside even noticed.

"Aw shit! Are we under attack!?" The hare asked franticly.

"I hope not or else we're-" The dog started to say, "Contact security! Tell them to look for a desert coyote!"

"Are you sure it's him?"

"I can feel it!"

----

"A desert coyote. Are you sure?" Asked another security canine, a German shepherd breed, on his radio inside the parking garage. The other scientists were being loaded up into armored transports to be taken to safety.

"Yes." The hare's voice answered, "He goes by the name of 'Christian Anders.'"

"Understood." The dog said before disconnecting transmission, "Okay everyone listen up. Be on the lookout for a desert coyote. He goes by the name Anders."

"Right!" The other guards shouted in unison. They began their search looking around for the coyote. Some looked through the crowd of other lab coats while they were going inside the transports. Others searched the parking lot but it wasn't long until one car flashed its lights on a swine guard. The blue car pulled out nearly hitting the pig and a few others as it heads towards the exit. A robin soldier stood in front of the car's path and began firing his blaster but it didn't even dent it. The bird jumped out of the way before the car was about to hit him.

"The suspect is on the move!" The hound yelled into his radio, "And he's heading in your direction. Close the gates!"

----

The large steel gates were soon tightly locked down with the two guards out in front. The blue car soon came into view and was heading straight for them.

"No way that guy is getting through." The hare said drawing his blaster.

"Get ready." The dog said also taking out his gun. The car continued its path until it was close enough for them. "Fire!" The guard yelled as he and the hare began shooting lasers at the car. As they fired, the hare noticed the shots were just bouncing off.

"Our weapons aren't denting it!"

"Aim for the windows!" The dog ordered as he fired at the windshield, which shattered easily. The coyote then pulls his head up enough to see the two guards and aims the stolen blaster at the two firing back. He manages to hit the hare in the chest and the dog in the side taking them both down. The car speeds up as it heads towards the gate.

"_Alright, let's see if this baby can hold up._" The scientist thought to himself as he ducked back down giving a short prayer. The car went it and smashed through the gate with full force but surprisingly, had managed to break through! The hound looked up and saw the hole in the gate.

"No way…" He said staring in disbelief.

"This is the Cornerian defense unit." A voice called out over the radio, "What's the current situation?"

The guard weakly reached for his radio communicator. "Desert coyote…blue car…armed and dangerous."

"Roger that, we'll take him down."

----

The blue hover car continues down the small road near a forested area. The car is still working properly even though it had all of its dents and cracks and looked smashed up mainly because of crashing through the gate.

"That was a close one." The coyote breathed with a deep sigh of relief, "For a second there I didn't think this armor could stand up to that gate." He then heard engines coming from overhead and looked out the side window and saw five Cornerian defense ships following close behind him.

"This is the Cornerian defense unit. You are under arrest, pull over now or we will open fire." A voice called out over the speaker.

"Dammit, they're more persistent than I thought." The coyote cursed. He then puts his foot down on the gas and tries to get away.

"Hold it!" The voice yelled out. It was obvious that the car wasn't going to stop. "Open fire!" The pursuing ships began firing at the car as it swerves trying to avoid the lasers. But some of the shots hit the car and tear through the roof of it.

"Crap! This thing can't handle large laser shots like that!" The coyote said to himself. The scientist hid the blaster in his lab coat then opened a compartment on the dashboard and inside was a small red button. He hits the button and while pulled over near the forested area, jumps out leaving behind a spare lab coat and his fake ID. He rolled around with his body curled up but after going through some bushes tried to stop on his own. He tried to grab some branches or tree roots but was stopped by hitting a tree with his abdomen making a loud crack. The coyote tried his best not to scream but gave a loud yelp before blacking out.

The car continued driving on its own still under fire. Soon enough, as a few more shots hit the car, the bomb inside it detonates and explodes. The ships hovered over the wreckage.

"We need a medical team out here!" One of the soldiers radioed in. The squad commander landed his ship as well as two others and went over to the destroyed vehicle. The commanding canine saw the burning lab coat and the burned fake ID but no body.

"What do we do now sir?" A female dog soldier asked.

"We start a search. This guy obviously thought he could outsmart us by making it look like he's dead. Have security check the scientists. He could be hiding among them."

----

Back on Fortuna, Colonel Summers heads into the large Katinan battleship that he arrived in. Summers arrives in his office. He then activates the monitor on his desk and Pepper's image appeared.

"General Pepper sir, you said you wanted to speak to me in private?"

"Colonel, what in the world were you thinking!?" The old hound asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Giving out an order to ground all ships? That's just absurd! If that happens, then nobody will be able to receive the supplies they need!"

"But general, we have more important issues to deal with in regards to that weapon."

"What could it possibly be?"

"According to McCloud, the weapon wasn't found on Fortuna."

"What does this mean?"

"I'm not sure but I suspect that the ship that destroyed Hudson and his troops may have the device on it. But because of the recklessness of McCloud's team, the base that _was_ on the planet ended up being destroyed and so was all the information stored."

"So what you're saying is that the weapon is mobile?"

"Yes, and to isolate it I had to land _all_ ships in order to search for it."

"But how could it be possible? It would need an enormous energy source to control Solar."

"My sentiments exactly general. We also happened to come across the spy you sent in. He also confirmed the weapon doesn't but now that I think about it…I believe that the weapon is more of a person than a machine."

"Just what are you getting at colonel?" Pepper asked narrowing his eyes on the wolf.

"The soldier informed us that the attack from Solar, was just an illusion created by alter users who were under the command of O'Donnell."

The general looked at the wolf with a surprised look on his face. "W-What did you say?"

"Alter users?" The hound was still in shock to hear about that to speak. "General? Is there something wrong?"

"Colonel, your soldiers have encountered a being with an impenetrable arm. Tell me, was it a fox?"

"Why yes, yes it was."

"_So…they're now fighting back…_" Pepper thought to himself.

"General?"

"Colonel, I want you and your men to leave Fortuna at once and hand over any evidence and information you've found there to the Cornerian military. And I want you off this assignment."

"What? But general! You can't do that!" The wolf protested getting up from his seat.

"That's a direct order soldier. Follow it." Pepper said before the screen went blank.

"General? General Pepper! Dammit!" Summers cursed as he slammed the desk.

Meanwhile outside his office, two soldiers walked by and noticed someone outside the door to the colonel's office.

"Hey isn't that…" One soldier began to ask.

"The lieutenant? You guessed it." The other responded. The two went over to the feline who had her back turned to the two and her ears on the door.

"Lieutenant."

Greyson quickly turned aiming her blaster at the two. "Don't try and sneak up on me like that. And could you guys try to be quiet?"

"Sorry but, won't the colonel be upset that you're eavesdropping on him?"

"No, he won't even know I'm here." She said giving a mischievous grin.

"Lieutenant, I know you're out there." Summers voice said from inside, "Please see me inside my office now. And bring the other two soldiers with you also." The feline went in with the two nervous soldiers. And find the wolf sitting at his desk. "So what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Y-you see colonel, we were just passing by."

"Yeah and we saw the lieutenant eavesdropping on you."

"Okay, but would you mind telling me why you two are on the ship and not outside? And don't bother lying to me."

"Well sir, we were busy out digging and…"

"And we got a little tired so we took a short break."

"Last time I checked, I didn't issue a break." Summers said calmly. Greyson couldn't help but smile. "And lieutenant, that goes for you as well." The felines smile quickly tuned to a frown.

"We're sorry sir!" One of the soldiers apologized.

"Yeah, won't happen again."

"But since you're here, I want you two to inform everyone to stop and get ready to leave."

"Huh? We're leaving?" One of the soldiers asked in surprise.

"Did I stutter? We're moving out as soon as we can, understood?"

"Yes sir!" The two answered before they proceeded to walk out of the room.

"Man, that was close." The one soldier whispered.

"Yeah, I thought we'd get in some trouble or something?"

"Oh and by the way, for slacking off, you get to spend time doing laundry when we get back to base."

"Yes sir…" The soldiers said before leaving.

"And as for you, lieutenant."

"Do you plan on making me do _your_ laundry?" Greyson asked with a smirk on her face.

"No. And how many times have I told you not to listen in on my conversations?"

"I'm sorry but sometimes I can't help it."

The wolf sighed. "But I'm glad to see that you're feeling better."

"I didn't exactly hear everything but would you mind telling me why we're just going to leave like that?" Greyson asked with a more serious look on her face.

"They were General Pepper's orders. There's nothing more I could've done about it."

"But why would the general do something like that?"

"I'm not sure. So how is our patient?"

"He's still comatose but his condition has become more stable."

"Good, once he wakes up we'll know more about this. Jennifer, something big is going on. And I suspect the general has something to do with it."

The cat looked at Summers with shock. "Don't you know that you could end up in trouble for saying something like that?"

"I know but there's something going on. I only know that. Lieutenant…Jennifer, will you help me find out what's going on?"

The feline looked down for a bit going silent before looking up at the lupine with a warm smile, "Wesley, you know I'll help you."

"Alright. But this mission _will_ be dangerous and won't be on the records."

"I know that."

"And I believe that the general is going to be keeping an eye on me so I won't be going anywhere. You'll have to do this on your own, and if you're caught, you'll be court-martialed under the accusation of treason, are you sure you want to?"

"I already said that I would and I mean that."

"You know you might end up running into that kid again."

"Don't worry about that. He caught me by surprise with that arm of his but I'll be ready next time."

"That's good to hear. Your first assignment is to head to Corneria and find anything you can about 'alter users', understood?"

"Yes sir colonel." The feline smiled giving a salute.

"I wish you good luck."

"Don't worry, I can handle it."

"I also wish you would take this more seriously."

"And I wish you would learn to lighten up. If you stay serious like that all the time it's not going to do you any good."

"I guess that means you're ready to head out?"

"Not yet, I need to pack a few things first." Greyson said as she was leaving the room. Summers looked on watching the gray cat walk off but couldn't help but feel uneasy, he knew he was asking too much, but he knew it had to be done.

----

It wasn't long until the coyote began to regain consciousness. He slowly staggered to his feet holding his stomach coughing. He lifts up his shirt and looks at the armor he had under his regular clothes and saw that the part on his abdomen was cracked and falling apart.

"It's a good thing…I still have this…ha, some security…" He chuckled to himself before nearly falling down groaning in pain, "I guess…I am getting too old for this…" The coyote checks his lab coat and find the PDA slightly dented but the blaster was still in tact. "Looks like I've got some…more work to do…" He coughed. "That kid had better appreciate what I'm doing for him. Crap, I'm going to be sore in the morning…" He complained as he limps off through the woods holding his side.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Attack on Sargasso

A transmission was sent out to all the bases on Corneria informing all in charge about Starwolf and to have them captured. News of this soon spread fast reaching all the Cornerian bases in the Lylat. One base in particular on Corneria had the interest of a doberman hound lieutenant as he left his office and walked down the hall.

"Sergeant, I would like to have a word with you." Said the doberman.

"With me sir?" Asked a golden retriever.

"Yes, come with me to my office. I have a mission for you."

The retriever obeyed and followed into the hound's office. The sergeant stood as the other dog took a seat in his chair.

"I want you to make an attack on the Sargasso fortress."

"Sargasso?" The retriever questioned, "But isn't that risky?"

"Not anymore, since Starfox was kind enough to clear things up for us. Now we can move in and wipe out those thugs from this galaxy. Even with those supplies they stole, their forces should still be weakened to a high degree."

"But what about Starwolf?"

"You are to capture them and bring them in. But if you have to then you may eliminate them just as long as you bring some proof that you did destroy them."

"Yes, but what if they aren't there?"

"Don't worry. They'll show up."

"One more thing lieutenant."

"What would that be?"

"On what grounds are we staging this attack?"

"This order to capture Wolf and his team comes directly from the general himself."

"General Pepper? But what does the general plan to achieve from this?"

"Who knows. _We_ just have to follow orders, understood?"

"Yes sir, lieutenant."

"I want you to gather up your troops and make an attack as soon as you can. And take some additional support. I doubt that Starwolf is just going to let us beat them so easily."

"Anything else?"

"No, that is all."

"Understood." The retriever saluted. The sergeant then exited the room leaving the doberman to grin to himself.

----

"Hey, wake up." Said a voice, "It's time to get up now."

Kazufox wakes up and sees Ralph nearby. "Not now, I'm too tired."

"Come on, we've got a lot of work to do today so hurry up and let's go." The gator said while going to get his boots on.

"Aw come on, let me get some sleep." Kazufox yawned.

"It's time to get up little buddy."

"Would you stop with the 'little'?" The fox said laying back in bed, "Wasn't my fault those idiots kept me up working all night or whatever this station goes by."

"I'll talk to them about that." The gator laughed, "But we need to get going. And now." The gator saw that Kazufox was already asleep. So he grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the room.

Kazufox then started to here loud noises and began wondering what they were. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was right in the path of one of the ships about to take off. Kazufox then crawled out of the way before the ship almost hit him. He was gasping for air wondering how he got there and then heard Ralph and Shawn laughing.

"You bastard! I could've been killed!" Kazufox shouted.

"I told you to wake up." Ralph said.

"Dammit! Were you trying to make me wet myself or something!?"

"Calm down." Shawn said still chuckling, "We wouldn't have let you get squashed anyways. It'd be too messy."

"Gee, thanks a lot. I feel _so_ much better now." The vulpine said in a sarcastic tone.

----

Fox had walked over to the capsule containing Kazufox and sat down in a chair near it. He looked inside as the young vulpine still remains dormant from the battle on Fortuna. A while later, the doors opened as someone else entered the room.

"I thought I might find you in here." Krystal said walking over taking a seat next to Fox.

"Hi Krystal." Fox said.

"You're up late. You know you need your rest."

"I know but I can't sleep."

"Fox, what happened…it wasn't your fault. There's nothing more you could've done."

"It _is_ my fault. Bringing him along and Wolf…this is all my fault."

"You can't blame yourself for everything." The blue vixen said lowering her head, "Maybe if I had sensed it sooner then maybe I could've done something."

"Krystal…"

"You're not the only one here who's worried. We all are. And we'll do what we can to make sure he gets through this."

"You're right Krystal. Thanks."

----

Kazufox and Ralph were working on one of the ships in need of maintenance. Kazufox was still upset about the cruel joke the gator played on him earlier. But then he noticed some of the other pirates watching him from the side and the same from above as well. He also saw Ronnie but as usual, he received only a glare from the rabbit before he walks off.

"Hey, are you there?" Ralph said.

"Huh?"

"Sheesh, don't tell me you're deaf already. Hand me the wrench."

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention." The vulpine said handing over a wrench.

"Well start paying attention. The boss is gonna be coming soon and we need this place in good shape."

"Like I care."

"I know but you will once you see O'Donnell _really_ pissed." Ralph said.

"Hey Ralph. I've got a question."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Ever since I got here, everyone looks like they've got some kind of problem with me and are watching me for some reason."

"And you're wonderin why?" The gator asked.

"Yeah."

"Well to tell you the truth, it's because you're a fox."

"Is that it? But why do they hate foxes?"

"You see little buddy, a long time ago, most of us here used to work for a guy named Andross and the boss did too. And we went into war against those Cornerian idiots and gave them hell. We were so close to finally wiping those dogs from the galaxy…until Starfox showed up." The gator said as he stopped tightening a nut, "And that bastard McCloud. He and his group beat up Andross and put us on the run. He even beat O'Donnell! And guess what McCloud is."

"A fox?"

"Exactly. And because of that, nobody here trusts another fox."

"Really…well if this McCloud guy is as good as you say to actually beat one-eye, then I don't really see what's so bad about…" Kazufox's voice trailed off. He stopped when he saw Ralph and his yellow eyes glaring at him.

"Don't you ever say there's something good about that bastard!!" The gator roared while bending the wrench, "There's nothing good about that damned pet of those Cornerian dogs! If you ever say anything good about that son of a bitch again, I'll-" The gator was then cut off when the wrench snapped in two and had hit the ground. He then came back to his senses. "Sorry about that…I didn't mean to scare ya."

"Ralph, what do you have against them?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it little Bradley."

"Don't call me…Bradley?" The vulpine blinked in wonder.

"Sorry, I meant buddy, little buddy." The gator said getting up and walking over to the other half of the wrench, "Well this thing's busted, better get another."

Kazufox looked around the hangar and saw the other pirates working on a ship trying to hurry before Wolf shows up. He then spots Shawn after he jumped out of the cockpit of one of the ships and ran over. "Hey Shawn, you got a minute?" Kazufox asked.

"Sure I guess. So what's up?" The eagle asked.

"There's something about Ralph I want to know."

"What's that?"

"What does Ralph have against Cornerians? I mean, even mentioning Starfox makes him really ticked off."

The eagle then looked in shock at the vulpine. "Hey Tim, I'm taking my break now." Shawn said to another pirate, "Let's go somewhere else."

The alter fox listens and follows the eagle. The two headed into a corner of the hangar.

"Tell me what happened. Did Ralph…get angry?"

"Yeah, why?"

"What were you two talking about?"

"First we were talking about why the guys here hated foxes then ended up talking about Starfox. Then he looked like he wanted to tear me to shreds. You know something about this, tell me."

"Sorry, I can't tell you."

"Why not? Come on! It's not like I'll anyone else. I'm only trying to find out what the deal is."

The pirate gave a sigh, "Listen, what I'm about to tell you is something he told me. And I could end up dead for this but if you want to know that bad. A long time ago, before he was a space thug as we are now, he used to live on Corneria. But then something happened. They…stole something that was important to him. And ever since, he swore revenge." Shawn explained, "In fact, he joined Andross' army and even volunteered to be in the fleet that attacked Corneria. He eventually got his revenge, but his hatred for them still burns, like a wound that won't heal. And he was close to seeing all the Cornerians wiped out until Starfox showed up and ruined everything. So you see kid, that's why he got so upset."

"I'm guessing since you know so much about all this, he's acted this way with the other guys here too."

"Yeah, but you're one of the lucky ones. One of the guys that got him that angry had his arms and neck broken. He would've been a lot worst if we didn't stop him."

"But what was it he lost?"

"I don't know. That's all he told me, and that's all I know on the matter."

"That idiot…if he's gotten his revenge then why does he continue fighting?"

"He's got nowhere to go. That's all he lives for now."

"But that's not going to do him any good!"

"I've tried telling him that but he won't listen. But maybe he'll listen to you."

"Why me?"

Shawn smiled, "Because, you're his little buddy."

"Dammit, I hate it when he calls me that! But, for some reason he called me 'Bradley' instead. Who's that?"

"It's nobody." The eagle said with a serious look in his face, "Don't worry yourself about it. Well, I better get back to work, later." Shawn waved as he left.

----

Falco enters the medical bay and sees both Fox and Krystal sleeping.

"What's this all about?" He said waking the two up.

"Huh? Falco, what are you doing here?" Fox asked.

"What do you think? To see how the kid is doing."

"So far he's doing okay." Krystal said, "I sense that his mind has calmed down."

"Man, I still can't believe what happened. Next time I see Wolf, I'm gonna give that fuzzball a piece of my mind."

Soon enough, Slippy also enters the room. "Oh, hey everyone. I guess we all came to see how he's doing." Slippy said.

"Yeah." Fox answered.

There was a moment of silence. But Falco soon broke it. "What is this a funeral?" Falco asked, "Look, the guy's not dead yet so how about we stop acting like he is?"

"Yeah, you're right Falco." Fox said.

"There's really nothing more we can do to help right now." Slippy said, "I wish there was something though."

"Me too." Krystal said.

"Slippy, how much longer does he have to stay in there?" Fox asked.

"Let me check." The amphibian said checking the device, "Well he seems to be recovering really fast. We can take him out later today at this rate."

"That's fantastic!" Krystal exclaimed.

"That's good to hear." Fox said.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm going to get somethin to eat." Falco said leaving the room.

"Yeah, I'm a little hungry myself." Slippy said following.

"Are you coming Fox?" Krystal asked.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." Fox said. Krystal soon left the room and Fox thought to himself about what happened and what could happen if he wasn't strong enough to save his team. "I'm sorry…" Fox said before getting up and leaving the room.

----

"Hey, I'm back." Ralph said cheerfully, "And I've got a new wrench here so let's get back to work."

"Sure." Kazufox answered.

"Hey don't worry about before, okay?"

"Whatever."

The two returned to working on the ship. A little while later, Kazufox remembered what Shawn said. "Hey Ralph."

"Hm? Need some help?"

"No, It's just…I talked to Shawn. He told me why you were like that." Kazufox said. And after he said that, the gator stopped and looked at him. "Ralph, I don't know everything that happened to you but that's all in the past. Whatever it was, if you've got your revenge then you have to move on. If you live your life only on revenge then you'll only end up getting yourself killed."

"You think too much you know that?" Ralph laughed.

"I'm serious! Why won't you listen to me!?"

"I hear ya. And I'll try to keep that in mind." The gator said, "Well, looks like this ship is done. Better go to the next one."

The fox watched as the gator walked on. "Idiot…"

----

Some time had passed on the Great Fox as the Starfox team was over by the capsule. "Slippy, how is he now?" Fox asked.

"He should be ready to be taken out now." Slippy answered.

"Good, I want to get him out of there as soon as possible."

Slippy shuts off the capsule and the liquid inside drains out. The pod soon opens and Slippy removes the wires attached to Kazufox's fur and his oxygen mask.

"Falco, are you ready?" Fox asked. The bird nodded. "Okay, on three. One…two…three!"

The two lifted Kazufox out and set him on the bed.

----

The alter fox laid in his bunk looking up at the ceiling.

"_Ralph…_" He thought to himself, "_Ralph, I'm sorry, but I can't stay here any longer. I have something I need to do. There's someone important to me that I must find._" He closed his eyes and was about to head to sleep but he felt something rumbling. "_Wh-what was that?_" He thought looking around. Everything seemed normal but then thought he was hearing voices.

"_How is he?_" One voice asked.

"_He'll be fine. He just needs his rest._" Said another.

"_I hope so._" A third voice said.

"_What's going on?_" The fox wondered, "_Who's voices are those? They sound familiar._" He waited and soon the voices went away. "_Man, this is too weird._"

----

"Well Fox, all we can do now is wait." Falco said.

"I know." Fox replied.

"I hope he wakes up soon." Krystal said.

"Yeah. But I can't shake the feeling we forgot something."

"What do you mean?" Falco asked.

"I don't know but I feel like we forgot something important…Gah!" Slippy cried out, "We forgot all about Peppy!"

"Oh no! I totally forgot!" Fox said.

"Uh oh, gramps ain't gonna be too happy about this." Falco said.

"We'll explain to him what happened." Krystal said.

"Okay, let's go see if we can find Peppy." Fox said, "ROB, set a course for Corneria."

"Affirmative." The robot responded and soon enough the ship was on its way.

----

Greyson was in a shuttle on its way to Corneria. She wasn't alone as several other soldiers and officials were onboard as well. She remembered what she had to do, find out what was going on in the Cornerian military. She wondered to herself why they would cover up something as dangerous as the weapon that controls Solar or if it even existed why weren't they taking any measures to try and find out where it is but keep it a secret from their own army. She sighed to herself thinking about it and looked out the window seeing Katina getting smaller and smaller. And she already missed everyone at the base already, especially the colonel because who else would she eavesdrop on and get away without punishment? She then thought about that and laughed to herself but she knew what she had to do.

----

The Great Fox approached Corneria but then a small shuttle was heading towards the Great Fox. "Incoming vessel. It is a Cornerian shuttle transport." ROB informed, "They request permission to land."

"Open a channel." Fox ordered, "Come in shuttle. What is it that you want?"

"Nothing much, just dropping by for a visit." A familiar voice answered.

"Peppy?"

"Hi Fox, what happened?" Peppy asked, "I was waiting all day for you and nobody showed up."

"Sorry, I'll explain everything later." Fox said, "ROB, prepare for docking."

"Right away." ROB replied.

"Attention everyone." Fox said over the intercom, "Meet me in the bridge."

----

Fox waited for the others to show up. First was Slippy who was followed by Krystal.

"Hey Fox, what is it?" Slippy asked. He then saw an old gray hare and knew right away who it was. "It's Peppy!"

"Yes, it's nice to see you again, Slip." Peppy said.

"Peppy! You're here!" Krystal said excitedly giving the old hare a hug.

"It's nice to see you too Krystal."

Soon enough Falco walks in. "What's this about Fox?" Falco asked. He then looked up and saw that Peppy was there. "Hey gramps, great to see you here."

"Hey, watch it Falco." Peppy said, "And it's nice to see you also."

"Great to have you back here."

"Yeah, I missed being here with you guys."

"We missed you too!" Slippy said.

"But I want to know what took so long?"

"We got called on another mission." Fox answered.

"Oh, I understand. Care to tell me the details? I just have to know."

"Okay, okay. I'll explain everything." Fox said with a grin, "But I also have to show you to someone."

"You never mentioned that you would be having company." Peppy said.

"I'll explain that too."

----

Wolf wondered around the Volstra space base. He saw how much emptier the base had been since he lost most of his troops on Fortuna. They had managed to bring in the refined alters, but they worked more like obedient machines rather than living beings.

"Lord O'Donnell!" One ape soldier cried out.

"What is it?" Wolf asked.

"We've got news that the guys at Sargasso are under attack!"

"McCloud?"

"No! The Cornerian army!"

"What?" Wolf said in surprise but then thought for a moment, "So those fools think they're tough after having McCloud's team weaken our defenses. I'll show them. Prepare the ships, we're heading out."

"But boss, the ships aren't in any condition to fight! There's lots of them too!"

"Just do what I said! And Tell Panther and Leon to hurry up."

Wolf rushed off towards his ship and soon enough Leon and Panther arrived as well.

"What is it Wolf?" Leon asked.

"Sargasso's under attack by the Cornerian military."

"Such cowards!" Panther exclaimed.

"How do you expect us do stop them with our ships still damaged?" Leon questioned.

"Simple, we use those alters that helped us out before." Wolf said.

"Are you sure they can handle a space battle?" Panther asked.

"We don't have any other choice right now. Prepare for take off!" Wolf ordered. The Starwolf team jumped into their Wolfens and started up the engines. Some of the refined alters attached the floating hands to the ship giving it an extra boost of power. "I want you guys to check up on those alter users. Let me know if they start acting up."

"Yes sir!" The ape pirate answered.

The Wolfens took flight. The trio soon found an opening in the asteroid field to activate the jump to hyperspace. Wolf took the lead first hitting his boosters entering the hyperjump as Leon and Panther followed suit.

----

"This young man was captured by Wolf?" Peppy asked as he looked at the young fox in bed.

"Yeah..." Fox nodded.

"Fox, you need to remember that what happened was not your fault. You did the best that you could. Just be glad that the boy is still alive."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right Peppy."

"You know, I am still a little curious about that weapon you mentioned earlier. The one that could control Solar."

"It's been said that a device that Andross created could control the energy of Solar and use it as a weapon. But after Wolf told me that there wasn't a device like that. I've been having my doubts."

"That doesn't really sound like something Andross would do." Peppy stated, "Even though he was smart, I don't think that would be something he would do. And if he did work on such a device, why wait until now to bring it out?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there's someone else behind this. And it might have something to deal with those alter users you were talking about."

"How so?" Fox asked.

"You mentioned that they can rearrange one thing into another right? What if maybe one of them has the ability to create something that draws on Solar's energy to be used like a weapon?"

"You've got a good point. But I don't really see how it can be possible…" Fox said. He then remembers the beam of light that Kazufox was in before it quickly disappeared.

"Fox, you need to keep your mind open to every possibility. Remember, nobody thought Andross could come back after you killed him but he found a way. So keep that in mind."

"I will." Fox nodded.

----

The three Wolfens soon exited the hyperspace and were flying towards Sargasso. As the three approached, they noticed the large number of Cornerian fighters swarming the base. The numbers were too much for their own forces who were being shot down one by one. And some Cornerian fighters were flying out from inside the base.

"Those cowards." Leon said, "The _only_ reason they're on the attack is because Fox's team cleared things up for them."

"But why wait until now to strike?" Panther asked.

"That doesn't matter." Wolf said, "All we need to do is stop these dogs from doing any more damage."

The three Wolfens then split up and flew in. The Starwolf team didn't waste any time as they began firing on the Cornerian fighters.

"It's the boss!" Exclaimed one of the pirates.

"Aw man, is it great to see you here." Said another.

"Don't get comfy just yet. We've got some trash to take out." Wolf said firing at another Cornerian fighter. The Cornerian ships then started firing back at the Wolfens but their shots missed because the ships were moving too fast for their lasers to hit.

----

Not too far away was the battleship in command of the squadron.

"Sergeant, it appears that Starwolf has entered the battle." One dog soldier reported.

"Tell all ships to take them down and be careful." The retriever ordered.

"We're not going to negotiate with them?" The soldier asked.

"You don't negotiate with a band of thugs like Wolf." The sergeant said, "The only thing we _can_ do is eliminate them."

"Understood, sir."

----

"Attention all ships. You are to go after the Starwolf team and take them down. I repeat, take down Starwolf." The voice over the radio instructed.

The pilots began to make their attack to try and defeat Starwolf. They flew in several formations trying to find a way to corner them in the asteroid field. Eventually, a small group managed to corner Wolf's ship near the asteroids.

"We've got O'Donnell." One of the pilots said, "Let's take him down."

The ships began firing at the Wolfen but then it made a U-turn and started doing barrel rolls deflecting the laser shots and was heading straight towards the group.

"What does he think he's doing?" One soldier asked, "Is he trying to commit suicide?"

"Be careful, we don't know what he's up to." Another pilot warned, "But he's up to something." However, it was too late as Wolf's ship flew by shooting down the one in front of him and with the aid of the hand alters, destroyed others that were near the Wolfen as they grabbed the wings on two of the ships and caused them to crash into each other. Then Wolf turned his ship back around again to take out the rest of the group of fighters showing no signs of weakness that his ship normally would in its damaged state.

----

Wolf grinned to himself as he continued to fly back towards the base. "Did those fools really think they could beat me like that?" He said to himself.

"Hey Wolf, you had us worried for a second there." Leon said with a small laugh.

"Don't worry about me. It's going to take a lot more than these losers to stop me. How's things over with you guys so far?"

----

Leon continues flying past and through the Cornerian ships using the hand alters to damage and rip them apart. "Everything here is fine." Leon reported.

Panther flies over and around the Cornerian fighters with ease thanks to the increased speed to his ship. "Okay over here. I'll beat them in no time." Panther said.

"I don't mind if this takes a while." Leon said. He then noticed some of the damaged ships trying to pull out and went after them. "And just where do you think _you're_ going?" He said in a sinister tone. Instead of firing, he used the boosters and easily caught up and slammed into them letting the hand alters catch the ships and tear them apart while the pilots screamed in terror before their ships had exploded. "Ah, I just love to hear them scream." Leon said, "It really gets the blood flowing."

"You're just as disturbing as always." Panther said flying in and out of the asteroids avoiding laser fire before firing back. He gracefully dodged the shots fired at him from the Cornerian ships. He flies his ship around to take them out easily.

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment." Leon grinned.

----

"Sergeant! Our fighters are being destroyed by the handful!" One soldier reported.

"What? But how can just three ships take on all of ours!?" The retriever said in surprise as he watched the monitor showing the fighters being easily beaten. "Contact all the remaining ships, tell them that it's time to make a retreat."

"Sir?"

"There's no point in just wasting more lives like this. We have to regroup and formulate a plan."

"Yes sir." The soldier said before contacting the fighters, "Attention all remaining troops, pull back for now. We are returning back to Corneria. Pull out now."

-----

"You know, I really like how these alters have a great hands on approach to help swat these pestering flies." Leon said.

"Yes, they are helpful. Now if we can only locate where the lead ship is, then we can end this boring battle." Panther said as he continued shooting down more fighters.

"Looks like we won't have to." Wolf pointed out, "They're starting to retreat."

"What? But that's taking the fun out of beating them." Leon complained, "I'm not going to let them get away so easily."

"Forget them." Wolf said, "We have to check and be sure everything inside the base is alright."

"Fine. I'll let them go this time." The lizard groaned as he turned his ship around heading towards the base.

----

Wolf, Leon and Panther had landed their ships inside the base but they saw the place severely damaged, and dead bodies of both pirate and soldier lying around. The walls and floor had laser shoots leaving burn marks and large craters where some explosives had been set off.

"This a mess!" Panther said, "It appears we came a little too late."

One of the armored guards looked over from a piece of debris and saw Wolf and the others. He then jumped out from hiding and ran over to them.

"Lord O'Donnell! You're finally here!" The monkey soldier said.

"Tell me how bad are the damages." Wolf commanded.

"The hangar and base levels were hit the worst." The pirate reported, "But we managed to keep the damage in the upper levels to a minimal degree."

"Well that's some good news." Leon said.

"Tell everyone to start cleaning up." Wolf ordered, "The enemy has retreated, for now."

"Yes sir." The pirate said. He then left to call out the others.

"Don't you think it's strange how after all this time they're just now attacking this place?" Panther asked.

"What do you mean, Panther?" Wolf asked.

"All I'm saying is that they just might be upset about us finding those alter users before they could come and get them."

"Finders keepers." Leon said.

Wolf looks over at the Wolfens with the hand alters still attached. "Are they really that important?" Wolf wondered.

"Must be. You remember what those bird things did before, correct?" Panther reminded.

"I see. We better prepare for another battle then." Wolf said, "I'm pretty sure that they're not going to give up something so important that easily."

----

Greyson had finally reached Corneria around the late evening towards nightfall. She was out on her own since she wouldn't be able to communicate with Summers freely. She had soon arrived in a Cornerian base on her own request of transfer. A dog soldier was showing her around the base.

"And over here is your room, lieutenant. And on behalf of everyone here, welcome to Corneria." The soldier said giving a salute.

"Thanks, that will be all." Greyson said dismissing the soldier. She looked around her new quarters. She liked it but not as much as her old one on Katina. "_Remember, this is only temporary._" She thought to herself while unpacking her bags, "_As soon as I'm done I can head back home. But I better rest up now, I've got a feeling I'm gonna have a busy day ahead of me._"


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Kite's Weapon

Chapter 8: Wanted

Greyson had woken up from another restless night. "I guess I'm more homesick than I thought." The feline yawned, "Better get myself dressed."

After she is in uniform, Greyson steps out to take a walk around the base. She is somewhat surprised as to how big the base was, the hallway that she walked down was almost 20-feet high walkway tiled with a grayish blue color. The windows showed a beautiful view of a nearby city in the distance. "Wow, the view here is better than I imagined, especially at night. But Katina's is better."

The retriever soon found the lieutenant and hurried over to her. "Lieutenant!" The canine called out. Greyson looked over at the dog wondering what he wanted. "My apologies lieutenant." The canine saluted.

"Apologies? For what?"

"You have been stationed here for over a day and I never properly introduced you around here. Forgive me for my insolence."

"That's okay, you don't have to apologize." Greyson laughed, "You can still show me around."

"Thank you. My name is Sergeant Rivet Terrance." The retriever greeted.

"Lieutenant Jennifer Greyson. Nice to meet you sergeant."

"Now I'll introduce you to the one in charge of this base, follow me."

The feline nodded and followed the retriever. "Care to tell me a little about the guy in command here?"

"Well for starters, he has a rank of lieutenant also."

"There's another lieutenant here?" Greyson asked.

"Yes, in fact he was the one who wanted another lieutenant here."

"But why would he do that?"

"To take over that position once he gets his promotion…" The golden dog muttered.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing. His office isn't too far from here." The two reach the office of the hound. Terrance then knocks on the door.

"What is it?" A voice asked.

"It's me, the transfer you requested has arrived."

"Good, bring her in."

The sergeant opened the door allowing Greyson to enter the room first then follows closing the door. Greyson looked around and saw that the office had windows and a nice view of the outside. The room was for one thing larger than Summers' office on Katina. The place was a light metallic grayish blue color like the halls, a desk in the center of the room with a swivel red chair while there was a potted tree in each corner of the large windows. Greyson also saw a dark haired doberman hound at the window.

"You must be the new transfer, Greyson correct?" The doberman asked.

"Yes sir."

The doberman turned around and walked over to the cat. "I'm sorry it took so long for us to meet. Allow me to welcome you to Corneria. I am First Lieutenant Ratchet Serris."

"Nice to meet you. And since you already know my name I don't have to introduce myself."

"I prefer to know who I'm working with. I've heard about you and your battle record. It's impressive to say the least."

"Yeah well, it's not like that anymore. I did lose my ship."

"According to the records you never lost one in a space battle so I still consider that impressive."

"Thanks." Greyson had a close look at the hound's face and noticed the scar on his left cheek. "But mind if I ask why you requested another lieutenant to be transferred here? Is it because since it's your base you have more seniority and that you'll be able to boss me around?"

"Of course not." The doberman laughed, "I want you here to protect the base while I'm gone."

"Gone where?"

"Out on a mission to capture Starwolf."

"You're going to do that on your own?"

"That's right. However, it seems that even in the weakened state that they're in, they manage to _still_ beat our forces." The retriever had an upset look on his face at that comment. "So I'll deal with this matter personally, but in the meantime, I don't want to risk losing this base to any enemies that might be lurking about. Who knows what Starwolf is capable of."

"_I know a little of what he can do._" Greyson thought to herself.

"We'll be staging an attack soon so until then you should rest up. Things tend to become real busy around here."

"Hm? You're going to attack now?"

"No, not now. But after we have our soldiers prepared first. I want us to go in at our best if we hope to stand a chance against them."

"Understood."

"Good, that is all. You're dismissed."

"Yes sir." Greyson saluted. The sergeant also saluted before opening the door and the two exit the room. The two continued to walk down the hall. "You said your name is Terrance, right?"

"That's right." The sergeant answered.

"I noticed that Serris had a scar on his face. And it doesn't look that old, do you know about it?"

"It was the Aparoids. When they attacked Corneria, this was one the places hit hard. They managed to get into the base and one of them cut the lieutenant's face."

"Wow, he must've been brave to take on the Aparoids on his own like that and in hand to hand combat."

"That was after the soldiers put up a valiant effort to stop them but…they were wiped out. A lot of brave men were sacrificed all because of…" Terrance said while clenching his fist.

"Because of what?" Greyson asked.

"Nevermind, it's all in the past. You better familiarize yourself around this place."

"Yes, and sergeant. I'm sorry if I upset you in any way."

"Don't worry yourself about it."

--

Kazufox was running through a forest on Corneria while in his Tri Bullet alter form and in his original clothes. Suddenly, two giant reddish metallic worm-like alters rose up from the ground and attacked. They lunged themselves at the alter fox but Kazufox avoids the one and jumps off the other and continues running. Then a flock of small violet alter birds attacked and started to peck at the intruding vulpine.

"Ow! I knew this wasn't going to be easy." He said trying to shake off the birds. They continued to attack with their razor sharp beaks cutting up his jacket. "Looks like there's only one way out of this one. Shocking First Bullet!"

The lower blade on Kazufox's back disintegrates and turns into energy and shoots him out away from the birds. Then a giant twin headed wingless dragon stomped through the trees and gave a loud roar. "Aw man, how many alters are in this forest?" Kazufox wondered. He had no time to think as the light gray dragon tried to cut up the fox with its large claws. Kazufox managed to duck underneath it and start running but then the dragon swiped him with its tail. Kazufox had blocked with his alter arm but he still went flying. He then gets his balance and continues running until he finds a small clearing. Tired and out of breath, the vulpine only walked until he found a large fountain.

"So this is where a large amount of alter power is kept. Well Wing, I hope you're right about this." He said to himself as he walked over to it. He stopped when he noticed that small drops of water was coming out and was going somewhere. "What's this?" He wondered noticing the drops becoming larger, "Only one way to find out."

He followed the trail of water drops as it continued to move to a source. Kazufox finds the water gathering together near what seemed like a small abandoned house. The water soon began to stand and take its form and there stood a creature made of dark matter that had looked almost of a canine breed of some kind but had a distinct appearance with a black right arm and a white left one. "Is this the thing that holds alter power?"

The mysterious figure gave a small cry and raised its arms to the side and then fired large bolts of lighting creating a large explosion decimating the old building. Kazufox managed to survive but he looked around and saw the crater filled with the bodies of some of the animals that lived in the forest. The figure then raised its arms into the air and with a loud cry, the animals' bodies began to disintegrate and become absorbed into the creature's hands.

"What are you doing!?" Kazufox demanded, "Leave these animals out of this!"

The figure didn't stop until the bodies were completely absorbed. It then looked over at the alter fox and stared for a short while. The creature then raised the white arm and started shooting dark lightning orbs at the vulpine. Kazufox jumped out of the way but only to be bombarded with even more energy bombs.

"I don't care if this thing is it or not, I'm not gonna let it beat me." He said to himself as he leaped into the air, "Terminating Second Bullet!!" The second blade turns into a rush of energy launching him at the figure. The creature only held up the black arm and blocked the attack and threw the fox back. "So, I see I have to get up close to get you." Kazufox said after he landed on his feet. He then charges at the figure as it gives out another cry shooting more lighting bombs at him. "Obliterating Last Bullet!!" Kazufox yelled out as the final blade changes into energy and launches him right at the creature but this time he was too close for the figure to block. Kazufox strikes the creature through the side of its chest and has his alter arm buried inside of it. The creature gave a loud cry of pain. "Got you now!" The fox said but then he realized that he was stuck. "Dammit, I can't move it!" Kazufox tugged and pulled as hard as he could and used his legs to push off the figure and break out but it was no good. The creature then brought the black arm to Kazufox's face and pointed into his left eye. Then suddenly, it shot an energy orb into Kazufox's eye blowing it out.

--

Kazufox yelped in pain as he quickly got up in bed covering his left eye with his hands. He soon realized that he was on the Great Fox. "It was all…just a dream…" He said to himself breathing hard. However, the fact was it wasn't a dream and it did really happen. He lost his left eye because of the creature but he had tore out one of its ribs. The bone then merged into his alter arm transforming it as well as forming a curved yellow propeller on his back and formed a new eye from where the left one was after Kazufox had rubbed the socket while having the rib still in his hand. It was because of that very incident he had gained a new alter, the Shell Shurigun. Fox entered the room a short while later.

"You're finally awake. Are you feeling okay?" Fox asked.

"I've been better."

"You were out for three days."

"Three days!? Man, I must've been tired." The younger vulpine said scratching his head, "But I had these strange dreams. But the one that seemed to be the realest was being on Fortuna and…" Kazufox's voice trailed off when he saw cut marks on his right arm. "Where did this…? Wait, we really were on Fortuna weren't we?"

Fox lowered his head, "It wasn't a dream."

"If that's the case then…" The alter fox then remembered everything in an instant up until the point after he destroyed Ralph's ship and remembering his last words, "Take care, little buddy…? No…No!! It can't be true! It just can't!" The fox yelled as tears started to stream down his face while he held his slashed arm. Fox didn't say anything else and just left the room. He saw Krystal waiting outside.

"Krystal?"

"I came by because I thought he had woken up."

"He did." Fox said solemnly.

"What is it?" Krystal asked worriedly.

"He remembers everything that happened and he isn't doing so well."

"Is it what Wolf did to him?"

"No, I've got a feeling it's something else that happened."

"Perhaps one of those thugs may have been his friends. It could be who Kite is."

"I'm not sure. But it's probably best if we leave him alone for a while."

--

The Sargasso space base was a wreck. There were scrap parts everywhere inside the base, several bridges and walkways had been demolished and the pirates had only damaged battle suits. The outside looked even worst as one of the engines at the bottom was severely damaged and the others had been hit almost as hard. Holes and burn marks from laser fire had been put all over the fortress after two days of battling against the Cornerian forces. It wasn't only just one group from a single base but multiple military commanders from all the nearby bases staging an assault to capture the Starwolf team. Wolf was nearly at his limit, with his Wolfen in bad shape from the constant fighting and lack of sleep. He knew that the only thing keeping them from being placed on trial that very moment was the power of the refined alters.

"Damn, they just don't know when to give up do they?" Wolf said to himself.

"Wolf, at this rate we'll be wiped." Panther said, "Perhaps we should pull back and think of a new strategy."

"We're not just gonna hand the base over to those mutts." Leon said.

"We're not but we have to think of something." Wolf said, "But since we haven't been able to repair any transfer gateways, things have been a lot more complicated."

"Hey, we could try to have supplies from the other hideouts sent to this one." Panther suggested.

"The military would take them out _and_ find the location of our other hideouts." Leon protested.

"I know that but we have to do something." Said Wolf biting his thumb.

"We should split up and head to each of the hideouts and get the supplies we need." Leon said.

"The only problem with that is that if they happened to follow one of us then that person will be outnumbered."

"What do you propose we do?" Panther asked.

"The only thing I can think of right now is for all three of us to head to Volstra to restock on supplies and alter users then head over to one hideout at a time and gather more troops. That way, if we get jumped after we made our stop, our ships would be powered up to the point it wouldn't matter how many they sent."

"Great idea but when do you plan on us actually doing it?" Leon questioned.

"We'll just have to wait until we find an opening between attacks."

Suddenly the alarms began to go off. The remaining pirates scrambled to get to their battle stations while one on the upper level went over to the edge. "Boss! The Cornerian army came back!" The chimp pirate cried out.

"Tell everyone not to head to their ships." Wolf ordered. Leon and Panther looked at Wolf when he said that.

"Are you sure?" The pirate asked.

"Did I stutter? Now go do it! Tell them to be prepared should they enter the base!" Wolf commanded. The pirate then ran off to tell the others that were heading to their ships.

"Wolf, have you finally lost it?" Leon asked.

"We're low on troops and their ships are to damaged to do anything. They'll be able to handle things if those dogs get in here anyways. All we have to do is keep that number to a minimum." Wolf explained.

"I see, desperate times call for desperate measures." Panther said.

"Shut your trap and let's get to the Wolfens."

--

Fox was walking down to the medical room with a tray of food when he saw Krystal standing at the doorway. "How is he doing?" Fox asked.

"He's calmed down but I'm not sure if he's doing any better." Krystal answered.

"I brought him something to eat. You better get something yourself."

Krystal shook her head, "I'll be fine."

Fox enters the room and sees the alter fox sitting up in bed with an almost blank look in his face. Fox goes over to the bed and places the tray on Kazufox's lap.

"It's time to eat." Fox said, "You have to keep your strength up." He looked at the younger fox as he just looked at him then down at the tray of food. "I'll come back later." Fox said turning back toward the door.

"Fox." The alter vulpine called out.

Fox quickly turned back around, "What is it? Do you need something?"

"On Fortuna, I heard what Wolf was threatening you for. And I bet he told you about me and how I was with his pirate group."

"Yes, he mentioned that."

"But you still never told him where I was. Even if you knew you were going to die for that. Thanks."

"Sure." Fox said as he turned to the door and started walking out. When he walked out Krystal was still waiting by the door.

"Is he doing any better?" Krystal asked.

"Yeah, he's starting to talk now. But it'll be a while before he can put those things behind him."

--

Serris continued looking over his notes from an attack made on Starwolf. He had secretly been sending in spy ships to take pictures of the Wolfens and record each battle that had been going on. He looked over the pictures of the strange hands on one of the Wolfens and he figured that it was a secret power source for the ships. Once he had all of the recordings gathered, he pressed the call button on his desk turning on the monitor of a collie.

"Patch me through to the general. I've found some important information he would like to know."

"Right away." The collie soldier replied. The screen then changed to the Cornerian military insignia. A minute later, General Pepper was on the monitor.

"Yes, what is it?" The general asked.

"General Pepper sir, I have some important information in regards to the capture of Starwolf."

"Good, tell me what you have found."

"Well sir, I've discovered that Starwolf has somehow upgraded their ships with some sort of new energy source. I'm sending the data to you now."

Pepper had received the information that the doberman had sent but what had his interest were the images of the Wolfens and noticed red hands protruding from all over the ships. The general instantly realized what they were but kept a straight face about it.

"As you can see general, this new energy source that gave those pirates an extra power boost comes from these strange 'hands.' And not only that, but those 'hands' are even doing damage and destroying our ships."

"I see. You must make capturing Starwolf a first priority." The general said but then he remembered what he found in Summers' report about a powerful fox and how he believed that Starfox was holding onto a criminal, "No, instead I want you to do something else."

"General?"

"I want you to locate the Great Fox. There's an extremely dangerous criminal onboard but Fox and his team don't realize it yet. I will try and contact them and let them know of the circumstances while you and your men arrest this criminal."

Serris had realized that this direct order from the general himself was the best way to get a promotion and had eagerly answered, "Yes sir! Can you give me some information as to what this suspect looks like?"

"He is a young red fox. But don't be fooled about how young he might seem, he is extremely dangerous."

"I understand general." The lieutenant grinned. The monitor had went blank leaving the lieutenant to think to himself, "_A direct order from the general himself to capture a dangerous criminal? This is what I've been waiting for! Yes, that's going to get me going pretty far in this army._"

--

Summers was in the medical bay where the soldier they had found was still in a coma. He looked over at the life support which showed that he was alive and his breathing was slow yet stable. He could only wonder what the soldier was trying to tell him before he was shot and ended up in that condition. He also wondered how Greyson was doing on Corneria and hopefully staying out of trouble. While he was in the room, two other dog soldiers, one a collie and the other a dalmatian, were outside the doorway when they saw him.

"Man, the colonel hasn't really been the same." The collie soldier said.

"What do you mean?" The other soldier asked.

"Ever since the lieutenant got transferred to Corneria, he's been in kind of mopey around here."

"What are you saying?"

"Come on Dan, it's obvious he misses her."

"I don't know. Are you sure?" The dalmatian asked.

"Positive, wouldn't you feel that way if a girl you were close to left like that?"

"I guess you've got a point Steven. But I'd never thought that the lieutenant would go out with someone as stiff as the colonel."

"Yeah, I know. I just hope this doesn't affect how he plans to lead us into battle."

"I'll worry about that." Said a familiar voice. The two soldiers were startled because they knew who it was standing right behind them. They slowly looked back and saw that it was indeed the colonel. "But as for you two, what do you think you're accomplishing by talking about my personal life?"

"Colonel! How did you-I mean we're sorry sir!" Dan said in surprise.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to talk like that about you." The collie apologized.

"Well, you did and the lieutenant isn't here to help you out of this one. I want you two to handle cleaning out the bathrooms for a month. That way, you two can talk all you want."

"A month?" Steven asked.

"Want me to make it two?"

"N-no sir!"

"Then you'll start now." Summers commanded. The two soldiers turned around and started walking away.

"Man, he likes to do the janitor a lot of favors giving us his job." Steven mumbled.

"I know. It's bad enough he made Tyler and Zack do laundry just for finding the lieutenant eavesdropping again." Dan muttered.

"Two months!" Summers yelled out to them. The two then started running before he made it three. After the two were out of sight the wolf then sighed to himself, "_Jennifer, I hope you know that you are partially responsible for the way these soldiers are acting. I seriously wish that these troops would spend more time training instead of goofing around._" Summers thought to himself as he looked back at the hound soldier, "_I don't know why but for some reason I keep having this bad feeling when every time I'm around here._" The wolf then walked off heading towards his office.

--

Jetters was in an uproar knowing that the team he sent to recover the capsule containing Kazufox was missing. He continued to storm around the base consumed with bitter rage. All of the other soldiers knew better than to be in his way otherwise he would kill them like the one he already killed. The leopard was pacing around the base thinking to himself, "_Dammit! How could this happen!? He was supposed to have been hidden even from any radar! When I find out who's responsible for this…I'll tear them apart!_" Jetters then punched the steel wall with enough force to cause a big dent and that's without the use of his alter. "_That kid's powers belong to me and only me! I won't allow anyone else to use him! I need strong alters like him or else my plan won't work!_"

While the leopard continued with his fits of anger, the dark brown horse with a slight hue of green in his hair, Darian and the light gray mouse with fur that sticks out at some places, Suichi kept an eye on him while keeping their distance.

"I don't see what the big deal is." The mouse said, "He's been like this for the days!"

"I'm pretty sure that the capsule on Fortuna must have been important." Darian said.

"Yeah, no kidding. But what's the big deal about some recovery pod? We've got plenty of those here. And it's not like anyone can trace the parts to us."

"Maybe it's what was inside it that he was trying to get. Should we inform the general?"

"Nah, we'll see what it is he's looking for first. And speaking of which, shouldn't the general be waking up soon?"

"I guess, it's been a few days since he went into recovery but then again he did use a lot of his power with Solar."

"Yeah, yeah I know. But I just don't like it here on this snowball of a planet."

"I hear ya."

--

Krystal had decided to pay a visit to Kazufox to see if he was doing any better or to somehow try and cheer him up. She thought about bringing Slippy to try and lighten things up but maybe it wasn't the best time. The blue fox was standing outside of the door not really knowing what to expect. She took a deep breath before she went in the room. She entered the room and found out that it was pretty much still the same. The strange capsule she found him in was missing from the floor and Kazufox was sitting up in bed with an empty in front of him. The blue vixen walked over and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"How are you feeling? Any better?" Krystal asked.

"Yeah, I'm doing a lot better." Kazufox answered.

"I see you have quite an appetite."

"Yeah well, I haven't really had much to eat for a while."

"What happened to the capsule?"

"Fox and Slippy took it out of here."

"Oh, I see. Would you mind telling me where you lived? Before what happened with Wolf?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious about where you were living at before-"

"I was a space pirate?" Krystal looked up at the young fox. "Listen, I know you guys probably already knew about that so you don't have to be so surprised. So, do you plan on turning me in to the military?"

"No. You did help us find Wolf's base after all."

"To be honest, I didn't know where the base even was. I'm pretty sure Wolf didn't know about it either." The was a brief moment of silence before Kazufox spoke again, "And to answer your question, I come from Corneria."

"Would you care to tell me about it?"

"Sure. It's a big deserty area. At first, it was a pretty bad place, a dump. Living outside of the city. Not really a place of luxury."

"Weren't you able to get any help from the city?"

"Not with the wall they had built around it." The male fox laughed, "But then something happened. After something happened that destroyed the city, things changed and now everyone, whether they lived in the city or not are now working together to make things better."

"I'm glad things are turning out better for everyone down there."

"What about you? I'm pretty sure it's not anywhere near here because blue fur isn't really a common fox color."

"You're right, I'm not from around here." Krystal answered, "I'm from a planet called Cerinia."

"Cerinia? I bet it was probably a beautiful planet."

"It was. It was very beautiful." Krystal said before lowering her head a little, "Until it was destroyed…"

"Destroyed?" Kazufox asked surprised, "But who? How?"

"I'm not too sure how it happened but…my home planet was destroyed and I was on my own ever since. Well, until I found Fox or better yet until he found me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright. Can you tell me if you have any family back home?"

"Yeah, I did have an older brother and there's this girl I know who's kind of like a kid sister. But it's not like were blood related or anything."

"Do you miss them?"

"Yeah, sometimes. But not really my brother since I know he can handle himself. It's the other one I'm worried about."

"Why not go back to her?"

"I can't…" Kazufox said clenching his fist remembering how Serena had been kidnapped and how he was powerless to stop it.

Krystal noticed the fox's hands shaking, "I'm sorry, I won't ask anymore about it."

"When can I have my blaster back?"

"Very soon." Krystal answered. When she said that, Kazufox slowly turned away from her, "I gave you my word that I would give it back to you and I'll keep it." The alter fox looked back and nodded. "You know, I also knew someone named Kite."

"Really?"

"Yes, it was on the planet Sauria, where I met Fox. The Kite I knew was a Cloudrunner and he helped me out a lot."

"The Kite I was friends with helped me out a lot too, but he was also from Corneria. Tell me more about the one you know."

Krystal then smiled knowing that she had managed to cheer up the vulpine, "It was a few years ago when this happened. I was out on my own searching across the galaxy until I reached the planet Sauria…"

--

Peppy walks to the bridge where he finds ROB at the controls doing a system scan on the ship. "ROB, how have things been going?"

"Everything has been working at optimal efficiency." The robot responded, "You don't plan to fly the Great Fox anytime soon, do you?"

"Nope." The hare laughed, "I promise I wouldn't try anything like that ever again."

"Good, then we will have a longer efficient status. Incoming message."

"A message? Play it." Peppy ordered. Pepper's image appeared on the screen. "General Pepper, how are you feeling?"

"Hello again Peppy, I'm holding out but this is an emergency." The old hound said.

"An emergency? I'll contact Fox and-"

"No. It's best if Fox doesn't know about this, at least right now." The general said. Peppy looked up at the general concerned wondering what emergency could be so big that he didn't want Fox and the others to know. "First I need to know, is there a young fox boy in the ship?"

"A boy? Yes, there is a young man onboard, why?"

"Peppy, there's something you should know about him…"

--

Krystal continued telling Kazufox about the adventures she had on the dinosaur planet, how she was trapped, how she met up with Fox and how she ended up joining the Starfox team.

"Wow, that's pretty cool." The alter fox said.

"Yes, things were quite exciting." Krystal smiled.

"Krystal, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Before I do, you need to promise me something else. That you won't tell anyone about this, not even Fox."

"Don't worry I won't tell."

"Promise?"

"I swear it."

"Good." Kazufox said taking a deep breath, "Krystal, when I first met you, I knew there was something different about you that made you stand out from the others. Did Cerinians have any powers or anything?"

"Yes, we have telepathic abilities but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I mentioned earlier how I lived on the outer walls of the city. There's a reason for that. The truth is because I'm an alter user and that means that I'm labeled as a criminal. We're known as outcasts."

"Why?"

"Just because we're powerful and different. You see, my alter changes my arm and I can tell you that I've been on the run for a long time." The vulpine explained, "I figured that because of your telepathic abilities that you would've already figured out about my powers. I know you and the others were watching but you're the only one who's similar to me."

"Is this why you left Corneria?"

"No, I have…other reasons. But there's something else you should know. That military you thought was so good and fought bravely for what's right? Those bastards would capture us and use us in experiments."

Krystal gasped in shock of the news, "That's horrible!"

"That's not the worst of it. They take the captured alters and do a refinement process on them and when they do, it kills the person they experiment on. And I'm sure Fox told you about masked fighters down on Fortuna, right?" Krystal nods her head. "They…are the result of the experiments. To be lifeless dolls…They can't even think for themselves! But in some cases, they manage to keep the personality but it really messes with their heads. They don't know who's their enemy or not, they just listen to whatever those dogs have to say."

"That's…that's so awful!"

"What's done is done. Remember about what happened to the city? After it fell, the government stopped trying to capture us since there wasn't any way to get in contact with the Lost Ground."

"Lost Ground?"

"Yeah, that's where I live. It's a large island not marked on any map. You mean you don't know anything about it?"

The blue fox shook her head, "No, we had no idea such a place existed."

"It does, and there was plenty of hell to pay during those times…" Kazufox said. He then felt some wet drops on the bed and looked over to see tears coming from Krystal's eyes.

"I can't believe that you went through all that by yourself."

"You don't have to cry about it. Things are getting better sown there now, I told you that."

"But still, how could they do something so cruel?"

"It's all in the past now. But you can't tell anyone anything I just said, understand?" Krystal wipes the tears from her eyes and nods her head. "You better wash yourself up. No point in just crying over someone else's problems."

"No, there isn't." The vixen said getting up taking the empty food tray, "If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here to talk."

"Thanks Krystal." Kazufox smiled. Krystal gave a smile back and turned around to leave the room. After the door had shut, the alter fox laid back in bed wondering if he did the right thing in trusting Krystal with something that could have him locked up for good. He soon pushed the thought of it to the side and figured that he could trust her but then another thought had crossed through his mind, "_It's all in the past…but why can't I put mine behind me?_" He turned over in bed and remembered about his feline friend and got up from bed. He saw a new change of clothes for him on a chair. "_Looks like there's only one place for me head to next…_" The vulpine thought to himeslf getting the new change of clothes.

--

Back at the Cornerian base, Greyson looked around seeing most of the soldiers mobilizing preparing for battle. She figured that this would be the last attack they would be making on Starwolf. She figured that she should get herself ready too but then Serris called her to his office. The feline found her way around to Serris' office and went in.

"Lieutenant Greyson, I'm glad you're here." The doberman greeted while fixing his uniform in his mirror that he keeps by the wall.

"Serris, if you plan on us attacking Starwolf then why did you call me here now?" Greyson wondered.

"About that," The canine said turning towards her, "there's been a slight change in plans. I'm putting you incharge of the base while I'm gone."

The cat looked at him with a surprised look on her face, "Are you sure you can handle things-" She began to say but then she remembered that this was the opportunity she was waiting for, to have the base to herself, "I understand."

"Good. Tell the guards to prepare the solitary confinement cells and have it ready to be transported on my return. I have a feeling that this catch is going to be the big one."

"Understood." Greyson saluted. She then turned around and left the room.

"Yes, a very big catch." Serris grinned, "And I won't take any chances with you around to steal my spotlight."

--

Falco roams around the halls of the Great Fox thinking to himself how boring and dull things have gotten. "Aw man, this is so boring! The only action we had was that battle on Fortuna with those strange flying thing." Falco yawned, "Man, I wish things would start getting more exciting, otherwise I might have to go out and find some action on my own." Falco continued wondering around until he saw Krystal looking somewhat down and decides to head over to her. "Hey Krystal!" Falco called out but he didn't get an answer. Krystal was thinking about the things that Kazufox had told her and couldn't get it out of her mind.

"_He said he lived a harsh life being chased by the Cornerian military for his power._" Krystal thought to herself, "_But he's still so young._"

"Hello? Is anybody home?"

Krystal awoke from her thoughts and looked up to see Falco behind her, "Oh, Falco. I didn't know you were there."

"You and Fox have something else in common." Falco sighed, "Anyways, what's up? You look like something's bothering you?"

"Oh it's nothing! Nothing at all." Krystal said knowing that she made a promise not to tell, "Have you seen Fox anywhere?"

"No, but he's probably with Slippy right now still checking that capsule thing." The avian answered.

"Thanks." Krystal said as she hurried off to find Fox.

"Wonder what's up with her?" The falcon wondered then he shrugged and turned the other way, "It's none of my business to find out anyways."

"Falco." A voice called out to him.

"Huh? Who's that?"

"Falco, it's me." Peppy said looking around cautiously.

"Hey old man, what is it?"

"Falco, you have to listen to what I have to say!"

"Settle down Peppy, what is it?"

"We're all in grave danger."

"We're what!?" Falco said in surprise, "I better tell the others."

"There's no time. And trust me, it would be best if Fox and the others didn't know."

Falco stares at the old hare for a moment then nods his head, "Okay, I'm listening."

--

"Slippy, were you able to find anything about where this thing came from?" Fox asked.

Slippy continued working on taking apart the stasis pod that Krystal had found Kazufox in on Fortuna. Most of its parts were scattered on the ground of the research and development room of the Great Fox which wasn't as good as some of the Cornerian labs but better than some. "Nothing really." Slippy answered, "All these parts are from different planets."

"Which ones?"

"From planets like Corneria, MacBeth, Titania and even Fortuna too." The amphibian informed, "Someone put in a lot of work building this thing."

"So you can't find where it came from, are you able to find out who made it? Was it Andross'? Or did the Cornerians build it?"

"I can't tell you for sure. But my guess is that this is something Andross might cook up."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, the strange liquid inside is made to heal only certain types of DNA. Mainly the type of DNA that Kazufox has. But it doesn't explain how he got inside in the first place."

The doors opened and Krystal walked into the room, "Fox, could I talk to you?"

"I'll be out in a minute."

"It's important. This can't wait."

Fox looked up at Krystal and saw a look in her eyes that told him something was wrong. He turned back to Slippy, "Hey Slippy, I'll be right back. Let me know if you find out anything new."

"Sure thing."

The door slid shut as Fox followed Krystal out of the room.

"Fox, what you said about the military after Kazufox, I think you're right about it." Krystal said.

"How do you know?" Fox asked.

"He told me himself. He lived on Corneria and was probably chased off and that's how he ended up with Wolf."

"That would explain a lot." Fox said remembering what Wolf had told him about alter users, "It's because he's an alter user isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

"Wolf told me. He knew about them and he told me about how they have powerful abilities. I can see why Andross would want to get his hands on them but why would the Cornerian government?"

"They…" Krystal started to explain.

"Fox!" Peppy called out.

"Peppy, what is it?"

"Fox, I need to know where that fox boy that's here is at."

"I'm right here." Kazufox said walking down from another hallway, "And I have a name you know."

By this point, Slippy had heard several voices from outside and decided to see what was going on. He steps out and sees everyone.

"Kazufox, are you sure you're well enough to walk on your own?" Fox asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine don't worry about me." The alter vulpine said, "Hey, you're Peppy, right?"

"Yes, I am." The hare replied.

"It's nice to meet ya. Krystal told me about you and how you were with Starfox for a long time." Kazufox said walking over. He then extended his hand to shake the old hare's but Peppy seemed to be a little hesitant but then shook the vulpine's hand anyways.

"What's the matter?" Kazufox asked stepping back, "You act like you've got something to hide."

"No, it's nothing."

"A fleet of Cornerian ships is approaching." ROB said over the ships intercom.

"_Oh no…not now!_" Peppy though,"_What are they even doing here?_"

"But why would a fleet being heading to the Great Fox for?" Slippy wondered.

It didn't take Kazufox long to figure out the reason Peppy was so hesitant, "You…You did this didn't you!?" Kazufox yelled out. Fox and the others were confused about what was going on and turned to Peppy. "You old bastard! You called them on me, didn't you? Well!?" Kazufox yelled as he formed his Tri Bullet alter with his hair stood up except for one strand and his left eye sealed shut, he stepped closer to Peppy, "You knew about me and that's why you called them, didn't you!?"

"Now calm down, there's no need for any violence now." Peppy said while he stepped back."

"Kazufox, stop!" Fox ordered, "Peppy, what in the world is going on?"

"I can tell you, he's working for those Cornerian dogs! All he wants to do is turn me over to the damn government. And if that's the case then, I'll end things right here and now!"

Suddenly, a humming noise was heard then a green charged blast hits Kazufox in the back on the blades knocking him on the ground. The others saw this and turned to see where the shot came from and they find Falco with his blaster.

"Falco! Why did you do that!?" Slippy screamed.

"Oh no, Kazufox!" Krystal said as she went over to the vulpine finding him motionless on the ground.

"Falco!" Fox said grabbing the bird's flight suit and pushed him to the wall, "Why did you do it, huh!? He's still a kid."

"It's not like he can handle worst, and in case you didn't notice, that _kid_ was about to attack Peppy." Falco explained, "Is that what you wanted?"

"What's going on?" Slippy cried out in all the confusion.

"I'll explain everything." Peppy said, "That young man there is an extremely dangerous criminal. Believe it or not, he happens to have incredible destructive powers because he is something known as an alter user."

"So what does that have to do with anything?" Slippy asked.

"He's highly unstable mentally, and physically and can cause a great amount of damage in an instant."

"Is that why you came here?" Fox questioned, "Was it about capturing him!?"

"No it wasn't." Peppy said shaking his head, "I had no problems with him even if he wasn't an alter user. Pepper was the one who contacted me and told me everything. It wasn't until I found out what he had done before that made him such a threat that I began to worry."

"If it's about him working for Wolf, we already know that."

"It's more than that." Falco said.

"Falco!" Krystal called out, "You knew about this too?"

"I told Falco the same story you're all hearing."

"But why didn't you tell me?" Fox asked.

"Because I know you Fox. And after what you told me on Fortuna, I knew you would try to protect him since you felt like it was your fault." The hare said, "That persona as an innocent looking young man is all a lie. He has earned the name 'the Strongarm Fox' because of his powers."

"But what made the Cornerian government find him so dangerous?" Slippy asked.

"It's because of the destruction he caused. Pepper showed me the images of Cornerian bases, airports, and even small towns destroyed all by this young man here. Fortunately, there weren't any civilian casualties." Peppy explained, "And what was worst was when Pepper showed me the recording on the attack he made on one base and left no survivors. But what really had me worried was that this fox here had the look of death in his eyes, the eyes of a cold-blooded killer. That was when I decided that he needed to be stopped and put to justice because I didn't want that to happen here. But I never called in the Cornerian military for any kind of backup or anything!"

"But there's no reason to go and try something like th-" Krystal began to say but she was cut off when Kazufox and jumped up and grabbed Krystal from behind by wrapping his left arm around her neck and holding his alter arm close to her face.

"Krystal!" Slippy cried.

"So…you think you know everything about me, huh?" Kazufox asked keeping a firm grip on his captive, "I can't believe you ate all those lies. Then again, you did work for those bastards and it's obvious you still do! And about Wolf, I worked for that cyclops just so I could find something important. When I found out he didn't have anything I was looking for, I decided to make my exit and sure he tried to kill me but somehow, I escaped. And that's when I found you guys. You helped me and after Fortuna, I'm pretty sure all of you knew what I was capable of. And when you could've just turned me in…you didn't. I started to think that I could trust you guys."

"But you can-" Fox began to say.

"Shut up! I see you guys just didn't know about the dirt that your government put on me seems to make you think I'm the bad guy, or that I go around destroying bases just for fun." Kazufox said glaring at Peppy then turning back at Fox, "What that general of yours didn't mention was that they tried to arrest me before I even did anything wrong because of my power. Because it looks like that they even surprised you with how much they want their hands on me. And it's because of this arm-no, because of those bastards! My best friend…is dead."

Those last words took everyone by surprise and before anyone could say or do anything else, Kazufox punches a hole in the floor and falls down while still holding Krystal.

"Krystal!" Fox yelled.

"We have to stop him!" Falco said before taking off heading to the lower levels of the ship.

--

Krystal looks around and finds herself on the lower levels of the ship and Kazufox standing near her.

"Are you okay?" The alter fox asked. Krystal nods her head. "Good." Kazufox said before releasing her and heading off.

"Wait!" Krystal called out as she followed, "Where are you going?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I can't stay here anymore. So I'm gonna borrow one of your ships."

"But you'll be killed if you try and fly out now!"

"And I'll kill you if you try and stop me."

"Kazufox, you don't have to go. It doesn't have to be this way, can't we find a way to work something out?"

At that point, Kazufox stops and turns towards Krystal, "The only real difference between you being labeled as an alter user or not is the fact we come from different planets! Other than that, there's nothing. So enjoy your freedom while you have it."

Krystal wanted to say something but she could only watch as Kazufox started running off toward the hangar. A minute later Falco ran over to her.

"Krystal, are you alright?" The avian asked.

"Yes, but we have to stop him!"

"Don't have to tell me twice."

"No! I mean he plans on taking an Arwing!"

"What? But he'll get himself killed!"

"That's why we have to stop him!"

"I'll contact Fox."

--

"He's going to what!?" Fox yelled into his communicator.

"You heard me right, Krystal says that the kid plans on taking an Arwing out of here." Falco's voice responded.

"But he'll be killed." Slippy said, "We have to do something!"

"I know but what? Hey, where did Peppy go?" Fox wondered as he looked around finding that the hare was nowhere to be seen.

--

Peppy hurries to the bridge and sees that a fleet of ships approaching. "ROB, contact the lead ship!" Peppy ordered. The image of a dark haired doberman hound dog appeared on the screen. Fox and Slippy soon entered the room. "What in Lylat were you thinking!?" Peppy demanded, "I told Pepper not to send any reinforcements! Call off this attack immediately!"

"Sorry, but the general has taken extra precautions and wants us to capture him."

"You fool!" Peppy screamed, "Things would've worked better if you didn't show up! Now we've got trouble on our hands because of you showing up here!"

"Damage detected in docking bay." ROB reported. On a side screen, it showed Kazufox tearing through one of the arms holding an Arwing in place. "One of the Arwings is online."

"So he plans on heading our way?" Serris mused to himself, "Launch all fighters!"

"What are you doing now!?" Peppy yelled out.

"I plan on taking him in one way or the other."

"You'll kill him if you do this!" Fox said.

"If that's the case then so be it." The doberman replied.

"If I knew this was what it would come down to…I would have never agreed to help in his capture!"

"I'll let the general know that you at least put an effort in capturing him even if it was an unsuccessful one." Serris said before the connection was lost.

"Wait!" Peppy yelled, "That arrogant little…Fox, I had no intentions of things getting out of hand like this. You've got to believe me."

"I know Peppy." Fox said, "But the least we can do is help out. After all, I'm still alive because he helped me. ROB, move the Great Fox away from the Cornerian ships!"

"Fox, I'm sorry." Peppy said.

--

Kazufox finished tearing off the arm holding one of the Arwings and jumps into the ship he had started up. He saw how similar the controls were to the Wolfens almost exact. He started up the engine and was about to head out but the hangar doors were still closed tight. He figured that the only way he would get through is to blast his way out but then the doors open on their own. Kazufox was a little surprised but then figured that there would be a lot of ships out there waiting for him and since he had the best fighter ship out of the group, he'd figure he would be fine as long as he doesn't try to fight. The Great Fox had changed course and was heading out from Corneria's orbit and away from the swarm of Cornerian fighters on Fox's orders.

"It's now or never." Kazufox said to himself as he fires up the boosters.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Kite's Weapon

Greyson walked down the halls at a fast steady pace searching for the records room. She remembered that Terrance had showed her around the base and also the all the rooms in the base. She walked past a few soldiers that were left to guard the base, and noticed some watched her while she was walking by. The cat didn't pay them any attention to them as long as they didn't follow her. She had finally reached the outside of the room and saw the guards that were on duty there were out along with Serris. Greyson swiped her identification card and entered her pass code then entered the room.

"Time to get to work." The feline said pulling out a small headset communicator from her pocket before she walked over to the computer.

Summers spends time waiting in his office again for a call from Greyson. The wolf looks over at the piling stacks of paperwork. Paperwork that he neglected because he was too busy going around the base making sure the other soldiers weren't fooling around, but he usually finds at least one soldier goofing off and orders them to cleaning duty which also happened to make the custodian's work easier. The wolf stared at the stack of papers. He groaned as he finally took the first page from the top and looked at it. Summers was indeed a good soldier himself, but when it came to paperwork, he would be almost a lazy as his troops. He skimmed through the page and read that it for some new weapons to be sent to the base and reached over for his pen. Summers tapped the pen a few times on his desk before he signed the document. At that point, he yawned knowing he was bored out of his mind…again, but he also knew that he had to fill out all those papers because it was his responsibility and tried being a good example for the others to follow. Suddenly, the monitor on his desk started beeping. The wolf was fully awake and pressed the button opening the communication link but since there wasn't a visual of the person and the screen showed the insignia of the Cornerian army, Summers waited for the caller to say something. He didn't wait long until he heard a familiar female voice.

"Colonel? Are you there?" The voice asked, "Wesley! It's me, Jennifer!"

The wolf pressed another button on the monitor switching the opened channel to a private line. He didn't have to worry about the door since it was already locked from the inside. "I'm here, go ahead." Summers responded.

"It's good to hear your voice again. For a second I thought you were out giving more cleaning chores to the others." Greyson joked, "So how is everyone? Not giving you too much trouble I hope."

"I would appreciate it if you took this more seriously."

"I know, but it doesn't help to be serious _all_ the time." Greyson said while accessing the computer files, "I was hoping we could talk a little first while I'm searching."

"I take it you found your way around alright. Let's try to keep the conversation to a minimum." The wolf said, "I don't want to risk someone outside hearing you."

"Don't worry, most of the soldiers including the guy in command are out on a mission, so I practically have this place all to my lonesome."

"Where did they go to?"

"Out to go capture Starwolf. You'd think that for a mission that important you would want as much help as you can get."

"That is strange."

"But what's stranger is that the commanding officer of the base is only a lieutenant but has a rank slightly higher than me."

"Corneria is in a bigger mess than I thought." The colonel sighed.

"I see you haven't changed how you felt about them." The gray cat said, then she finally passed through the firewall protected files, "I'm in."

"Good, now run a search for alter users."

"Alter users…Wesley, nothing's showing up."

"Try another search for recent prisoners or experiments dealing with alters."

The feline typed in some key words as she started more searches, however nothing was working. "It's no good, I can't find anything."

"Keep trying. There has to be something!"

"Okay, I'll keep on…wait, I think I found something. There have been a reports of a lot of people that have gone missing."

"Missing?"

"Yes, missing, gone, nowhere to be found. And especially around this area!"

"Then why haven't they looked for those people?"

"According to the records, it says that they were victims of the Aparoids and just left at that. But it gets worst, more reports of disappearances come months after the Aparoids were destroyed."

"_What kind of zoo is Pepper running down there?_" Summers thought to himself, "Look into it. We may have found something big. Search for any reactivated factories or labs."

"Okay, but what for?"

"Who knows how this alter power is formed. For all we know, it could be artificially produced…"

"You don't think that they would use those people in experiments do you?" Greyson asked as she stopped and waited for the results to appear on the screen. She only found silence from the black furred wolf. The monitor displayed the results of her search, but it wasn't what she was looking for. "I didn't find any, but there was an explosion that had hit a lab a few days ago. The only thing missing is a blaster."

"A blaster?"

"Yeah. As to what caused it, one of the computers overloaded and exploded causing a fire. There weren't any casualties. The guard that found the computer when it overloaded, however, was burned but he's okay."

"Look for anything else."

"Right, give a minute and…" The feline said searching more through the computer, "Here's something, a mineral processing plant on MacBeth has been reactivated, yet no investigations were held."

Summer closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair rubbing his eyes out of frustration, "And I thought the soldiers here were lazy…"

"Should I keep searching?"

"No, that will be enough for now. Contact me when you find something else."

"Understood." Greyson said while logging off the computer, "It was nice to hear your voice again, even if it was under these circumstances."

"I understand it's going to be hard being away but this is only temporary."

"I know, I know."

"Jennifer, take care."

"You too." The feline said as she removed her headset communicator and placed it back into her pocket. She heads out the door and begins walking down the hall thinking to herself, "_What could've happened to all those people?_"

The small fleet of Cornerian ships waited in position all expecting the fox criminal to try and escape in an Arwing. The soldiers were in their fighters ready to be launched, and all the battleships ready with their weapons online. The Cornerian lieutenant waited on the flagship awaiting chance to order the attack. The retriever sergeant was also in the same ship working at the communications station. Terrance's gaze went around the silent room with the exception of the sounds of engines running and the sound from the controls then went to the doberman hound that waited looking out the window at the Great Fox.

"Lieutenant, are you sure it was a good idea to arrive out here before Starfox told us to?" The retriever questioned.

"Of course I am." Serris replied with his tail wagging with anticipation, "Pepper said himself that this fugitive is dangerous and I just want to guarantee his capture."

The sergeant narrowed his eyes at the hound because he knew the _real_ reason he wanted to capture this criminal so badly then return to Corneria to receive a promotion.

"Lieutenant, the Great Fox is starting to change its position." Reported an avian soldier.

"Keep an eye on them." The hound ordered, "Make sure they don't try anything funny."

"Yes sir." The soldier answered.

"_What are they up to?_" Serris wondered.

Kazufox sat in the seat of the Arwing checking the systems and controls. He saw that everything was working in order and then grabbed the controls ready to try and make his escape. Suddenly, Slippy's voice came over the radio.

"Wait! Don't go! We can help you get through this. We want to help-"

Kazufox smashed the radio with his alter hand.

"This is it. It's now or never." The fox said to himself. The alter fox powered up the engines but he noticed something. The fleet of ships outside was disappearing from view. He then figured out that the Great Fox was moving away. "Why is the Great Fox mov-" Before he could finish his thought, he heard voices shouting out to him.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Falco called out.

Kazufox didn't hold any longer and launched himself out towards the exit of the Great Fox's hangar. Falco and Krystal arrived to the hangar too late to stop the vulpine.

"Damn!" Falco cursed, "He already took off!"

"What do we do now?" Krystal cried out.

"We'll have to go out there after him. He won't make it on his own!" Falco said as he jumped into another Arwing.

Serris waited and he started to lose his patients. He wanted to order the attack as soon as he could so he could return a hero in the army. "_What's taking him so long!_" He wondered.

"Lieutenant! An Arwing has been launched!" The same avian soldier exclaimed.

"Launch all ships!" Serris ordered, "Don't let him get away!"

Terrance sent the order to all the other ships to launch the fighters. The fighters were soon swarming out from the ships all heading towards the Arwing even though it had a head start.

"_For your sake and the sake of these soldiers, don't let yourself get caught by this man._" Terrance prayed.

"The Arwing has been launched." ROB said.

"Fox, the ships are starting the attack." Slippy informed.

"No! It's still too soon." Fox said.

"Two more Arwings have been launched." ROB reported.

"Two more?"

"Falco and Krystal." Peppy figured.

"Fox, should we stop them?" Slippy asked.

"No. Let them go. That should but some more time. ROB, is the Great Fox in position yet?"

"Negative, in only a few more minutes the Great Fox will be in front of the fleet." ROB said.

Kazufox flies his Arwing away from the fleet of ships knowing that he wouldn't even last. The squadrons of Cornerian fighters were unable to catch up to the ship but were still in range as they began to open fire. Kazufox was easily able to dodge the path of the lasers and using barrel rolls to deflect some of the shots.

"Wow, this thing handles just like a Wolfen. Even better." The fox realized as he fired the boosters getting even further.

"Commander, the target is getting away." One soldier said over the radio to the lead dog in command of the fighters.

"Not for long. Take aim and fire." The commanding dog pilot said as he began to lock onto the ship. He line up the Arwing in his sights ready to fire. "I've got you now."

Suddenly, another Arwing flew right in front of his ship causing him to draw back and lose sight of the Arwing they were pursuing.

"Commander! It's the Starfox team!" Another pilot cried out.

"What do they think they're doing!"

"Sorry, but we can't let you guys take him in." Falco said to himself as he flies in the stream of laser fire doing a barrel roll all the way through. "Ha! Not even a scratch." The bird gloated.

"Falco, stay focused." Krystal said as she chased one of the stray fighters.

"I won't miss this time." The dog commander said pulling the trigger on his ship. Krystal's Arwing then moved in the way taking the hit but it only did minor damage to her left wing.

"Hey Krystal, you okay?" Falco asked.

"Yes, let's keep going." The blue fox said as she continued to shake up the other fighter ships by only flying right in front of them.

"What the hell are they doing!" Serris roared, "Whose side are they on!" The doberman was in a rage.

"Lieutenant, the target is escaping." A lizard soldier reported, "What should we do?"

"Inform all ships to go after him! Launch the missiles! Fire the lasers! Do whatever it takes to not let him escape, I want that fur brought in alive!"

The sergeant repeated the words to the other ships informing them of what they needed to do. The ships began to fire the engines and start after the Arwing all the while firing missiles and lasers. Some of the missiles had reached the Arwing. The small ship tried to escape and dodge the missiles, however, the laser fire made it difficult to dodge until some of the missiles exploded near the Arwing causing it to shake violently.

The Arwing's alarms were going like crazy showing the damaged areas, which was mainly the left wing and G-diffuser had been damaged. Kazufox was shaken up but still tried his best to escape the best he could constantly firing the boosters and trying barrel rolls to deflect the laser fire.

"Sir, the Arwing has been hit." Another avian soldier reported. "A few more hits should immobilize it."

"Excellent." Serris grinned, "Continue firing!"

"What? Lieutenant! The Great Fox has moved in the line of fire!" The female dog soldier reported, "Sir, if we fire now then there's a good chance the Great Fox will likely be hit."

"_Too bad Serris, I never thought you deserved that promotion anyways._" Terrance thought to himself feeling slightly relieved.

The doberman's anger was boiling. He knew what it was really about, he felt that since they couldn't get the bounty on the fugitive, they would make sure they would stop the military until they went back to get collect whatever was left of the criminal themselves. He wasn't going to let them get away with anything that would show him up on a mission of such importance. He knew his future was at stake.

"Sir?"

"Open fire!" The doberman ordered, "I don't care what you have to do, fire! Fire everything we've got! I don't care if Starfox is in our way or not, that's their problem!"

There was silence from all the soldiers in the room. "Understood sir." The female soldier said. Terrance reluctantly sent out the transmission ordering all ships to open fire.

"Fox, they've stopped firing." Slippy said.

"Good, they won't fire if we are in the line of fire." Peppy said.

"Actually, I was thinking that if we had to, use the Great Fox as a shield." Fox said.

Peppy looked at Fox about to say something about his past treachery handling the Great Fox on the Aparoid homeworld, but before he could the ships began to shake violently knocking everyone to the floor.

"Whoa…what hit us?" Slippy said holding his head.

"Incoming missiles from the Cornerian ships." ROB reported.

"What? Why are they firing on us?" Peppy wondered before the ship started shaking again.

"Damage on portside hull of ship." ROB informed.

"At this rate the Great Fox will be torn apart!" Slippy panicked.

"Hold on…just a little bit longer…" Fox said gritting his teeth.

"Man, this is too easy." Falco said as he continued flying in front of the Cornerian fighters.

"Falco!" Krystal cried out, "The Great Fox!"

"What?" Falco wondered as he looked back at the ship seeing that the Cornerian ships were firing on it, "What does Fox think he's doing?"

Falco flies back towards the mothership with Krystal following close behind.

"Commander, the Arwings are heading back to the Great Fox." One pilot reported.

"Good, let's continue the chase." The dog commander ordered.

"Sir, the target is out of range of our fire." Another pilot said.

"Damn! All we can do now is pursue and see where the target is heading. We may find his base of operations."

"Yes sir!" The other pilots said in unison as they followed the commander's ship after the Arwing.

More missiles were fired from the Cornerian battleships. Most of them had hit the Great Fox while some went after the lone Arwing. The starboard side of the Great Fox had been severely damaged after taking many hits and was falling apart.

"Fox, we'll be destroyed if we take any more hits." Peppy said.

"Can't we just contact the leader of the attack and tell him to knock it off?" Slippy wondered.

"Don't bother. If they didn't want to hit us they wouldn't have fired." Peppy reminded, "And I doubt that the idiot in charge even cares."

"ROB, can't we move the Great Fox in time?" Fox asked.

"Yes, but there is lower than a fifteen percent chance of escaping before the Great Fox sustains critical damage." The robot informed.

"Oh no!" Slippy cried out, "More missiles are heading this way!"

The missiles from the outside were approaching fast towards the Great Fox and were heading straight towards the hull of the ship. Avoiding the hit seemed impossible since the ship was too large to avoid it. Suddenly, the missiles were destroyed one by one.

"What happened?" Slippy wondered.

"Fox, is everyone alright?" Krystal's voice asked over the radio.

"Hey Fox, what were you thinking!" Falco's voice shouted.

"Guess I wasn't." Fox responded.

Falco and Krystal flew around shooting down all the missiles but they didn't notice the few missiles that had managed to pass by them on the way over. They were able to stop all the missiles heading directly towards the Great Fox.

"Lieutenant, if we continue to fire then the Great Fox will be destroyed." The lizard soldier said.

"I don't care! They're only helping the criminal escape anyways." The doberman scolded.

"Are you suggesting we destroy the Starfox team!" The avian soldier questioned. The other soldiers except Terrance looked up in surprise.

"As far as I see it, they're traitors and they're just as Venomians!"

"That's a pretty big accusation." The retriever said, "If you do attempt to take out Starfox, then Pepper will have you stripped of your rank in an instant. Not only that, but _you_ may be the one tried for treason. So unless you want to be a simple soldier in the infantry or worst, I suggest you stop this at once."

Serris' glare met with the sergeant's eyes. He knew that the golden haired dog was right. The room was filled with silence as the other soldiers were looking around at the two canines then towards each other wondering what was going to happen next.

"Fine, call off the attack." The lieutenant finally said, "Tell all ships to stop firing. We're heading back to base."

The retriever smiled to himself knowing that he really got under his fur this time. He then sent the order to call off the attack and to return to base.

"Commander, the target is no longer on radar." One pilot said.

"Blast, we've lost him!" The dog commander complained.

"Commander, we have orders to return to base." Another pilot informed.

"Alright," The commander said, "let's head ba-"

"Commander! Incoming missiles! And they're from our own guys!" Another soldier yelled out. The squad of fighters managed to avoid the three incoming missiles as it darted past them.

"Is everyone okay?" The dog commander asked.

"Everyone is here sir."

"Good, then let's head back to base." The canine said as he turned his ship around. The others followed in the same manner.

Kazufox continues to try and escape in the Arwing not looking back. The vulpine checked the radar and besides the Cornerian fighters still tailing him, he was safe. He finally figured he was out of range since they stopped and had gotten away, but then the radar showed that three missiles were still locked onto him.

"Dammit! These guys are just as bad as Wolf's group!" The fox cursed. He tried his best to out maneuver the missiles. The Arwing turned up and the boosters were fired to try and get away but it was no good. The fox then turns the ship around and flies directly towards the missiles and starts shooting at them. He manages to damage one of the missiles. As he flew past, the missiles tried to turn and follow but the damaged one exploded taking out the other two missiles.

"That takes care of those missiles." He said breathing a sigh of relief. The radar then showed that one of the missiles had survived. He tried to fly away from it the best he could but then the damaged wing caused the ship to move too slow. The missile had hit the Arwing totally destroying the left wing, G-diffuser, and even damaged the engine as well. The Arwing went through space spiraling out of control. The alter fox screamed out as he flew through space with no control over the ship, the systems alarm was going off in the red. Damage was critical.

The blast knocked the Arwing towards the ice planet of Fichina. The ship soon flew down towards the planet. On the surface of the frozen wasteland, the desert coyote who went under the name 'Christian' stepped outside of a dark gray tent in a blue coat and saw the Arwing falling like a shooting star.

"What in the world?" The aged coyote said in wonder as he ran over to try and find where the ship was going to crash.

The Arwing continued to fly out of control as a fire started inside on the controls. The smoke was starting to suffocate Kazufox. The alter fox removes the straps and then used his alter to punch a hole through the cockpit and jumped out. He fell to the ground and only used his arms to cover his head to brace for the fall. He went along the snowfield rolling but slowing down at a rapid yet steady pace until he came to a complete stop. The Arwing soon crashed in another snowfield on a cliff and had exploded. Kazufox lost his alter focus and returned to his natural form. He looked up weakly and saw a blurry figure running towards him. He could only make out the person was some kind of coyote or at least that's what he thought.

"Kite…?" Kazufox said before fading into darkness.

"I'm glad you two arrived here." Summers said to the two soldiers standing in front of him. One was a male greyhound with short light gray fur and the other was a female parrot with green feathers and red hair that reaches the base of her neck. "The reason I called you two in here is because I have an assignment for you two."

"What is it colonel?" asked the greyhound.

"I'm sending you two on a scouting mission to MacBeth."

"MacBeth? Why there?" The parrot asked.

"Call it a hunch, but I suspect there might be possibly Venomian activity at one of the mines. And I suspect that many civilians may have been taken as prisoner there to work at the plant. Your mission is to find out what is going on there."

"Mind if I ask where you got this information?" The greyhound questioned. The only answer he received a stare from the wolf. The two knew that what they were about to get themselves into was going to be big, but they didn't know how big.

"This is a dangerous mission, so be careful out there." Summers continued, "As the best surveillance team I have, I expect to hear something going on down there."

"Yes sir!" The two said in unison as they saluted.

"Good, now you'll both have to excuse me, I have to check on a prisoner."

In the hidden base that Jetters was stationed at, he rushed into the control room seeing everyone working at their stations. Everyone was trying to find out what had crashed and so close to the base.

"What's going on!" The leopard said impatiently demanding to know. Soon enough, Darian and Suichi entered the room.

"A ship crashed landed in the area." A monkey soldier answered, "We're working on where it landed."

"Hurry up!"

"We have a location." Said a lizard soldier, "Approximately four and a half kilometers away. Should we send in the Rebirths to examine the area?"

"No, I'll go see what it is for myself." Jetters said, "If the pilot did survive, I could always use another punching bag. Prepare my snow transport and I'll bring Metalfists along with me."

"You mean that big ape?" Suichi questioned, "Why not just bring us?"

"I can handle things on my own. And I suggest for your sakes you don't talk about Metalfists like that." The leopard smirked.

"And why not?" The rodent asked. He then felt a large hand grab his head and turn him around. The mouse was staring in the face of a large ape with strangely gray hair and long teal colored hair and a metallic yellow headband on his forehead.

"Raaaagh!" The gorilla screamed at the rodent as he started to lift the mouse up and squeeze on his skull.

"Gah! Okay, okay! Get him off me!"

"Alright, call him off!" Darian said as he tried to pull the gorilla off. It wasn't until Jetters nodded to the gorilla that he released the mouse dropping him to the floor.

"Hey Suichi, you alright?" The horse asked.

"Yeah, but how can that guy be so strong!"

"One of life's mysteries not meant for the likes of you idiots to know. Besides, I need someone to take my calls while I'm out." Jetters said with a smirk as he walked out with the gorilla following.

"Who does he think we are? We're not his secretaries!" Darian sneered.

Down in the prison cells on Katina, a brown-feathered eagle lies on his bed thinking how he survived whatever happened on Fortuna and about Ralph's picture.

"I don't get it…Ralph _never_ goes anywhere without that picture." Shawn said to himself. He sighs to himself as he spends another day in his prison and that it would be only a matter of time before they would try and have him executed or some other punishment. His thoughts were broken by the sounds of the door leading to the prison cell opened. Some soldiers were accompanying an old dog soldier in a higher-ranking uniform.

"Get up, pirate." The old hound commanded, "Time to talk a little walk."

Shawn only stared at the old dog, a brown furred hound at that, but then turned away. The old dog nodded to one of the guards as he opened the cell door and the other guard aimed his blaster at the avian.

"I won't tell you again to move it." The officer barked.

The eagle then got up and started walking where they were leading him. He didn't know how long they would keep him prisoner, but he wanted to see the look on the old man's face once Ralph and the others came for him and he was at their mercy.

Back at Corneria, the Starfox team met with Lieutenant Serris in his office. Terrance was standing to the side observing as the two sides argued over the incident that had taken place earlier.

"Explain to me again why you let that criminal escape!" The doberman demanded.

"Only if you first tell us what you plan on doing to him." Fox said.

"What do you think! We're going to lock him up!" Serris yelled, "How many more times do I have to say that!"

"Look, I'm sick of you sounding like a broken record!" Falco exclaimed, "We know what you say you're gonna do. We've seen the powers that kid has and we want to know you want him so bad."

"Because he's a dangerous criminal!"

"Could you explain to us what he has done?" Krystal asked.

The doberman was stunned for a moment since he didn't know himself the reason he was after the young fox other than it was Pepper's orders. "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you mercenaries!" Serris screamed as he rose from his chair and slamming his paws on his desk.

"Then maybe you would care to explain to Pepper why you opened fire on our ship." Peppy said.

"You nearly blasted off half of our ship completely!" Slippy reminded.

"Look, I already said that I would have your ship repaired and free of charge. Now what more do you want from me?"

"Answers." Fox said, "We want to know the _real_ reason you want him so badly."

"Look, it was an order from Pepper. If you want to ask any questions about that, then ask him."

Fox glared at Serris for a minute. He then turned towards the door, "Let's go team." The rest of the crew followed Fox out the door along with two guards. Falco was last to leave after looking back to give a glare towards the doberman.

"Damn mercenaries. Gave me nothing but a headache!" Serris complained sitting back down and holding his head, "And they let that brat get away!"

"It's too bad the colonel isn't here to help out." Terrance finally spoke.

Serris knew exactly whom the retriever was referring to. He glared at the sergeant and yelled, "Get out! Out of my office, now!" The retriever simply walked out without saying another word with the door sliding shut behind him. "Dammit, this isn't good…Pepper isn't going to happy about this at all. Maybe if I brought in Starwolf, no. I need to find him and make sure he's captured, my career is at stake!"

Terrance walked down the hallway with a slight grin on his face. He looked around the base at everyone but didn't notice that he was being followed.

"Terrance." Greyson called.

"Hm?" The retriever wondered turning around, "Ah, lieutenant. I hope things around here weren't too dull. What can I do for you?"

"I heard there was a big mess that happened during your mission. What happened out there and why was Starfox here?" The gray striped cat asked.

"There was a change of plans, we didn't go after O'Donnell. Instead, we tried to capture a criminal that was hiding with Starfox."

"_Criminal? I'm sure it was that fox I confronted that day._" Greyson thought.

"But we were unable to successfully capture him and he escaped."

"You seem awfully cheerful about all this."

"Why lieutenant, I have no idea what you mean." Terrance said with a smile before turning to walk away. Greyson looked at the canine with a slightly confused look on her face. "_Okay Serris, let's see you weasel your way out of this one!_" Terrance thought while chuckling to himself.

"I'm still pissed with that loser!" Falco complained, "He had a lot of nerve to open fire on our ship!"

"He was quite rude about too." Krystal said.

"I know." Slippy agreed, "What was the guy thinking?"

"And what exactly were _you_ thinking, Fox? Huh?" Falco questioned, "If Krystal and I hadn't came back you'd probably be space dust by now."

"Sorry, I didn't think they would actually fire on us." Was Fox's only response.

"Then whatever this is must be big if they would open fire on their own allies." Peppy stated.

"I guess we'll find out once we talk to Pepper about it."

"Hey guys, while we're here, why don't we check up on my dad?" Slippy suggested, "He's probably finished analyzing that strange blaster we found." Krystal then looked up in surprise remembering her promise.

"Okay, we'll go see Beltino first then we'll contact the general." Fox said, "I just hope what we did was enough for him to escape."

"Me too..." Krystal said.

Kite drove his dark metallic gray desert buggy as fast as he could. He had managed to escape the military for the moment. Sitting next to him was the tri-colored feline with a red bow on her head, Serena. She had an orange spot over her right eye and a small but noticeable black spot under her left ear with an spotted tail of orange and black with the tip covered in orange. The coyote continued to drive into the remains of several damaged and destroyed buildings before pulling to a stop.

"Alright Serena, wait here okay?" Kite said.

"But Kite, what about you?" The feline said as she jumped out of the vehicle.

"Don't worry, I'm going to help out Kazufox and make sure he's alright."

"Promise me that you'll both come back."

"Hey, you've got nothing to worry about." The coyote assured, "We've handled more dangerous things than this."

Serena watched as Kite drove off leaving her to wait. Kite drives as fast as his car can go. He drives for what he feels like hours but was actually minutes through a desert like field. He then hears an explosion up ahead and a cloud of dust.

"That's them." Kite figured. The desert coyote drove into the battle where Kazufox in his Tri Bullet alter form with only two blades on his back remaining. His left eye was sealed shut to retain the power of his other alter ability. Kazufox was in his regular clothes with the jacket and shirt slightly torn, fighting a group of masked alter users wearing a purple and white military uniform and their alters. Kite drives his way through the crowd causing all the masked soldiers to jump and move out of the way while Kite drives towards Kazufox. The coyote slams on the breaks and goes into a skid, but he was moving to fast to stop in time making Kazufox jump out of the way just barely avoiding the vehicle.

"What the hell were you thinking!" Kazufox yelled, "You almost hit me!"

"Well, sorry for showing up to help you." Kite said jumping out of his vehicle.

"Yeah, lot of good that did. Where's Serena?"

"Don't worry, I dropped her off in a safe place."

"Good, one less thing to worry about."

The two were surrounded by several species of masked soldiers and their alters. These alters weren't the floating hands they were used to fighting against, these were green boxed shaped with holes in the torso, it had light green spring-like arms with red claws while few others had larger shaped bodies and with a head almost like a dragons and with a pair of spikes on each side of its head. The two furs stood in the middle surrounded by the group.

"Hey Kazufox, these guys shouldn't be _that_ tough to beat." Kite said.

"Oh yeah? I would've crushed them if I could even hit them."

Just then, one of the red claws opened exposing a hole and then fired a barrage of spikes at the two. Kazufox and Kite managed to jump out of the way avoiding the shots.

"Ah! My car!" Kite cried out, "If they touch it I'll make them pay personally!" Kite then pulled out his platinum blaster and shot at the alter that had fired, but his shots only passed right through it. "What the?" He gasped in surprise.

"Told you." Kazufox said, "These guys are like ghosts. I can't hit them but they can hurt us."

"I know why." Kite said as he pulled out a smaller black blaster and fired on one of the masked soldiers only to have it phase through, "One of these guys is doing all this."

"And we just have to find out which one." Kazufox said as he backed up till he was almost back-to-back with Kite.

"Think you can hold them up a little while longer?"

"Looks like we don't have any other choice."

Another of the alters fired more spikes and the two jumped to avoid the attacks. Kazufox leaped up into the air.

"Let's see how you like Terminating Second Bullet!" Kazufox yelled using up his second attack hitting the ground creating an explosion coving himself in a cloud of dust. The masked soldiers looked to try and find the fox, but then he jumped out towards one and punched him. Unfortunately, the fox just phased through him. "Man, I can't even catch these guys off guard!"

"_Wait, if they were able to react that fast then, that means the one controlling them is close._" Kite thought to himself. One of the arms tried to grab him but he ducked under it and fired even though it just phased through. He then noticed a pile of rocks nearby. "Kazufox, try hitting those rocks over there!"

"What?"

"Just trust me on this!" Kite yelled moving away from more spikes and dodging the spring arms trying to grab him.

"Fine, Obliterating Last Bullet!" Kazufox yelled as he used up his last attack towards the rocks Kite had pointed to. The arm and floating bodied alters tried to stop the fox but he managed to dodge their attacks and smash the rocks making a large dust cloud covering the entire area. The cloud dust cleared showing all the masked soldiers and their alters still there. The masked soldiers then moved into a group and then quickly dispersed around the two. "Great, now what?"

"Damn, that dust cloud really messed things up. I can't tell which one it is."

"So the one is somewhere here?"

"Yeah, but I can't tell." The coyote said shifting his eyes around the crowd, "They all look alike." He continued watching and started moving some more when he saw more start to attack. Kite fired some more shots while Kazufox tried to hit them with his alter but still no avail.

"Man, it's like shadowboxing!" Kazufox yelled out.

"Shadowboxing…wait, that's it!" Kite exclaimed, "Kazufox, can you bring out that other alter of yours?"

"What for?"

"Just do it! And make it shine as bright as you can!"

"Fine, but this had better work!"

"Don't worry, it will."

Kazufox opened his left eye making it glow brightly as well as his arm. The vulpine lifted his arm into the air while it shifted its shape. He tried his best to get as much power in it as he could, making the arm glow even brighter.

"That's it…keep going…" The coyote said looking down on the ground at the where shadows of the masked soldiers were supposed to be. The soldiers were too blinded by the light to see what Kite was doing. Kite soon found the one that did have a shadow. "Found you." Kite said as he lifted up his platinum blaster. The desert coyote fired and hits the masked refined alter user in the face shattering its mask knocking it down. The others masked soldiers felt the effect of it as their shadows began to slowly return. The light from Kazufox soon faded as he stood in his Shell Shurigun form.

"You got them?" Kazufox asked.

Kite lifts his other blaster and fired on one of the alters and the laser shot hits the floating body alter. "Yep. Got him."

The masked soldiers looked at the dead body and then towards each other. They then began glowing summoning their alters to combine. The floating bodies then lined up and four of the alter spring arms attached the box-shaped ends to the torso making one complete beast. All of the creatures gave a loud roar as spikes popped out from the holes in its chest. They then began to charge at the two with opened hands ready to fire off more spikes.

"You ready?" Kite asked.

"I've been ready." The fox responded. Kazufox strikes the ground flying into the air. His propeller begins to spin sending himself down to the ground and punches the ground making another dust cloud. The masked soldiers have a hard time trying to find the two furs but then red laser shots came out of the dust taking down each masked alter user one by one making the alters on some of the creatures vanish. Kazufox then charged toward one that still had all its parts and punched it directly on the head shattering the entire creature. The spiky alters didn't give up, they detached and reformed to complete some bodies while the remaining floating torsos went flying after Kite.

The coyote fired both of his blaster simultaneously at them. The shots fired from his regular blaster only left small dents in the armor while the other one actually penetrated and even destroyed one.

Kazufox jumped back avoiding a barrage of spikes fired and then jumped towards another spike alter and used his propeller as a boost for speed and with another punch, destroyed half of the alter. Kite continued firing at the torsos until they launched the spikes in their bodies which managed to hit his black blaster destroying it. Kite then fired on with the other blaster doing damage to them. He then saw Kazufox surrounded by the spiked alters and that one of the torsos was flying towards him. Kite noticed one behind him as well and shot it in the head blasting a hole all the way through and fired at the one after Kazufox.

Kazufox had just noticed the one from behind and knew that Kite had him covered and so continued his attack until he had enough and was about to end it. He jumped onto the spring arm of one of the creatures and ran to the head and punched off it flying into the air towards the group of their controllers. Kite looked up and saw what Kazufox had planned but suddenly, felt a sharp pain go into his back. He looked behind and saw the alter he shot was still there and had fired one of its spikes into his back. The coyote was bleeding badly and wouldn't be able to remove it without bleeding even more. He then shot at the creature until it disappeared into nothing then fell to one knee looking back at Kazufox and the bright light that was shining from his arm.

"Don't stop…keep fighting Kazufox…" Kite said weakly as the spike had still remained acting like a plug.

"This is what you guys wanted right? This power of mine!" Kazufox yelled out, "Well here it is! Shell Shurigun Burst!" Kazufox locked onto the group of masked alters as they watched helplessly. Once Kazufox landed, a large explosion, bigger than any he had made before had hit the area. The spike alters then began detaching and falling to the ground and disintegrated. The spike in Kite's back also disappeared causing him to loose blood at a steady rate, but he already had a bandage ready and wrapped it about his body over the wound slowing the rate of blood loss. Kazufox walked over to the coyote and saw him down.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Don't worry." Kite said trying to smile, "Just got hit from behind."

"You need to be more careful." Kazufox said returning to his natural form and helping up Kite.

"Yeah, thanks." Kite said getting up and holding his side, "We got them good, didn't we?"

"Yeah, every last one of those guys." Kazufox said helping Kite over to his buggy, which miraculously was undamaged, "Kite, thanks."

"Heh…sure thing." The coyote said as he was helped slowly into the passenger side, "Think you can get us back to Serena without crashing?"

"Don't worry, I can handle it. You just need to rest." Kazufox said still unaware of the wound inflicted to his friend. He started up the vehicle and started to drive off.

"Hey Kazu?" The coyote said.

"Yeah?"

"I know we fight a lot, and sometimes don't get along right?"

"Well, yeah. It happens sometimes. Why?"

"Heh, even after all those times, we still manage to remain friends." Kite said groaning in pain.

"Kite, where are you going with this?"

Kite only sighed, "It's nothing…man, I really wish I could settle down and live a less dangerous life for once…"

"Hey, sit tight. We're almost there."

Time passed and the sun had began to set. Kazufox continued driving while Kite sat next to him quietly and sound asleep. The coyote was already sleeping when Kazufox finally found the place where their feline friend was.

"Kite! Kazu!" The cat cheered as she ran over towards the vehicle as it came to a stop. The fox stepped out.

"Serena, are you alright?" Kazufox asked concerned.

"Yes. Kite was the one who helped me." Serena said before noticing him sleeping, "What's wrong with Kite?"

"He's just tired. He got hit pretty bad but he's okay."

Serena ran over to the coyote, "We should check on him." Serena placed her hand on Kite's arm and gently rocked him but didn't wake him. His head only slumped to the side. "Kite…are you-" The feline was about to ask but then realized why he wouldn't wake up. "Oh no…Kite!" The cat began sobbing, which broke out into tears.

"What's the matter?"

"It's Kite…he's…"

"Don't worry, he's just sleeping." Kazufox said putting his hand on the coyote's shoulder and started to shake him, "Come on, Kite. Time to wake up." The smile on Kazufox's face soon started to disappear and became replaced with fear. "Kite? Come on, seriously. You're scaring Serena. Kite? Kite!" Kazufox moved his other hand behind Kite's back but felt something wet under the coyote's jacket. Kazufox looked at his hand and saw that it was covered in blood. He moved Kite's body forward and saw the blood stain in the seat and also in his back. He knew why Kite wouldn't wake up…Kite was dead. Kazufox was shocked, he saw the body of his best friend that died sitting right next to him. Serena continued crying, covering her eyes with her paws and dropping down to her knees. Kazufox also fell to his knees with tears streaming from his eyes and yelled out in anguish. It was the last battle the two had and would ever have together.

Kazufox woke up in a sleeping bag. He looked around and saw he was in a blue tent. The fox got up and noticed that his arm and body had been bandaged. Kazufox could hear the crackling of wood and turned to notice a fire from the outside, so he put on the spare parka next to the bed and walked out. The entire ground was covered in snow.

"Ah, you're awake." Said a desert coyote also in a blue parka.

"Who are you?" Kazufox asked the coyote, "I noticed some tech in the tent, are you some kind of scientist?"

"Yeah, I am." The older fur answered. Kazufox then braced himself ready to fight. "Easy, I'm not here to hurt you otherwise I would've done so already." The elder gentleman chuckled.

"Oh yeah? I bet you would if you knew I was a-"

"Alter user?" The coyote said standing up, "I already know about you Kazufox."

"How…Just who the hell are you and how do you know my name!"

The coyote walked over to Kazufox and handed him a cup of noodle soup already heated. He then walked back to where he was sitting and picked up his cup of soup. "Come on. You need to eat. I'm pretty sure you're hungry, and I'll tell you everything after we eat." Kazufox looked at the coyote and just took a seat near the fire. The desert coyote handed the fox a plastic spork to eat, the vulpine took it and began to eat.

Jetters was standing atop of the snowmobile while the gorilla he referred to as Metalfists, drove the vehicle. The leopard looked up into the sky and watched the falling snow beginning to slow to a stop. Jetters soon found the wrecked ship and there wasn't much left of it. He then turned around and saw a cloud of smoke in the distance.

"There they are. So they must've survived the crash…but not for long." Jetters said to himself, "Metalfists, head over in the direction of where that smoke is coming from!"

The gorilla nodded and pressed on the gas pedal and the snow track tires began to accelerate the vehicle.

"Ah…those were good noodles, weren't they?" The coyote asked cheerfully.

"We've finished eating now I want you to answer some questions, like for starters, who are you and why did you help me?" Kazufox asked.

"Gee, you're welcome." The coyote said with a hint of sarcasm, "It wasn't easy stealing from a Cornerian lab. But I did say I'd tell you what you wanted to know. For starters, I helped you because you needed it. And as to who I am, I can't really say."

"Why not? You're planning something, aren't you?"

"No," The coyote said shaking his head, "The thing is I've been looking for you because I have something to give you." Kazufox looked at the coyote with a confused look. "Here, catch." The scientist said tossing a blaster to Kazufox. The fox catches it and examines the object. He sees the silver blaster has a name engraved onto the side of the barrel.

"This blaster…it has Kite's name on it." Kazufox said.

"That blaster you had, I made some changes to it."

"You bastard, you've got some nerve!" Kazufox said aiming the weapon at the coyote.

"Is that how you thank the person who first created that gun?"

Kazufox was shocked to hear those words and asked, "You were the one who gave this to Kite?"

"Yes. You can think of me as like a guardian angel in a way."

"Great, I feel so much better." Kazufox said rolling his eyes.

"Well just try it, okay?" The coyote said, "I improved it from its original form to have a big power boost. You'll see what I mean. Aim at that tree over there." The scientist pointed.

"Alright fine, but it's just a gun." The alter fox said getting up and walking over to the pine tree. The scientist watched with a smirk on his face. The alter fox aimed the blaster at the tree and fired. The blaster shot a blue laser that blasted a large hole through the tree and the recoil sent Kazufox flying down on his back. The tree itself then toppled over backwards crashing into the snow.

"Whoa! This thing really packs a punch." The vulpine said with a surprised look on his face.

"I told you." 'Christian' said, "I made a complete overhaul to what it can do."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out in time, when you most need it. But you can tell it's very powerful than a standard blaster."

"I see what you mean." Kazufox said getting up and brushing off the snow off himself.

"I have something to ask of you." The coyote said, "I wonder how you found one of my disks. The explosive ones."

"Explosive?" Kazufox asked.

"Yes, if they are not removed properly then they are set to automatically overload the machine they're in and cause it to self detonate so whoever found it wouldn't be able to trace it back to me. Each and every single one sends off a signal to me so I keep track of where they are in case the military ever got their hands on it."

"Well, it was when I was out exploring some old building. I found some stuff in it and told Kite about it and we searched it and found a pile of those things. After Kite tried it on his computer, it blew up and he had the nerve to say that _I_ did it! Great to know it was you who made them go boom."

"Yeah." The scientist laughed, "I guess so. But I have one thing to ask you. Could you tell me a few things about why you left the Lost Ground? Why you were at some space station full of pirate?"

"Only if you tell me what you have against the Cornerian military."

"Fine, the reason I know why you're an alter user is because I used to do research on them in the Lost Ground. That was until Andross and his forces invaded and wanted me and several other scientists captured. I managed to escape, but then I found out the Cornerian military was after me too. Not long after that, I found out what they were doing, and turning their captives into lifeless dolls. What they call 'perfect soldiers' and I hated it. So I ran off and I could care less whether or not Corneria fell. They're the same as Venomians. But now for my question."

"Fine, a friend of mine is gone and I'm trying to find her."

"Serena?"

"How did you-"

"I said that I've been keeping an eye on you, so her too."

"So does that mean you know where she is!"

"Sorry," The coyote shook his head, "I don't. I had to run again after those dogs knew where I was and I lost track of things after I left that blaster with you."

"Great…"

"And there's one last thing I want to know. Could you tell me whatever happened to Kite? Like where he is?"

Kazufox went silent and stared solemnly into the burning flame, "Kite…is dead."

The scientist looked up with a saddened expression on his face. "Oh…I see." The coyote said while slowly turning his head to the ground, "I just…had no idea…but somehow, I always knew but just couldn't accept it."

"Yeah, a group with the Corneria's army caused it. I managed to make them pay for it."

"That's good to hear at least…Listen, I don't care what you do with it. Fight and destroy Corneria, or save it. I don't care what happens to them anymore, but just remember to keep that gun…for Kite."

"Yeah, sure." Kazufox said getting up and walking over to the tree that he blasted and closed his eyes. "You seem to be interested in Kite a lot. Why though?"

"Well, what kind of person would I be if I wasn't interested in my own son…?"

Kazufox's eyes opened wide and turned around, but he saw that the coyote was gone. "Kite's…father?" Kazufox then picked up a sound of an engine with his ears. The fox then ran out of the campsite while still hidden in the trees.

The inside of the Sargasso base was in shambles. Everything was almost completely destroyed from the inside. The walls were covered with burn marks from laser fire, parts of the pirates' mechs were scattered around the base. The floors had holes from all the explosives that went off during the battles. The base was literally starting to fall apart. Bodies of both Cornerian soldiers and space pirates were everywhere. Wolf and his crew as well as their Wolfens were seriously worn out and drained, even the hand alters were starting to fail with most of them that had already disappeared.

"Wolf, we can't keep this up forever." Leon said.

"I know…" Wolf managed to breath out with his armor cracked after taking a few laser shots from the Cornerian soldiers, "Those dogs…they just don't give up!"

"We should head out now, they haven't been attacking for about a day now."

"Yes, you're right. We need to get ourselves together and then plan a way to end all this. Tell Panther to get to his Wolfen, we're leaving."

"Hey! Panther!" Leon called out.

Panther was over by his damaged Wolfen looking at it shaking his head, "Oh no, this won't do at all! My ship is a complete mess and my flight suit is ruined! Oh, now what will Krystal think of me once she sees my in this condition? It is unacceptable!"

"Hey lover boy! We're heading out!" Leon said, "Get your tail in your ship and let's go before there's nothing left of it."

"Very well, I really need to repair my Wolfen so it will be beautiful again." The feline said as he started to board his ship with the painted rose on it almost completely scratched off.

"You," Wolf said pointing to a monkey pirate with damaged armor, "those dogs should stop attacking, for now, so I want you to get the others and start cleaning until we come back with back up. In case they do attack, try and keep this base out of the paws of those miserable mutts in case they come back."

"Got it boss!" The pirate saluted.

Wolf jumped into the cockpit of his Wolfen and started up the engines. The Wolfen was launched from the damaged space base with Leon and Panther's following close behind.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Kidnapped

Pepper was in his office working on paperwork after just coming out of another meeting. Dealing with the Aparoid aftermath was harder than he anticipated especially since he found out that another problem he had with alter users had returned and was worst than before. On top of that, his health had been slowly declining. The hound thought that he was still weakened from when the Aparoids tried to absorb him or it was just a cold. Either way, he didn't have much time to think about it. The monitor on his desk began to start beeping.

"General Pepper, sir." Called the female husky, who was the general's secretary, "You have an incoming call from the Starfox team."

"Put them on." Pepper answered. The collie nodded and a minute later, Fox's image appeared on screen with the rest of the team in the background. "Yes Fox? What is it?" Pepper asked. He saw that Fox wasn't in too good of a mood, Pepper and knew right.

"Pepper, I know you were after someone who was traveling with us. I want some answers as to why and a full record to everything he's done." Fox demanded.

"Fox, I can't talk to you about it now." Pepper said, "Meet me at my office to talk more on this matter in person." And with that, the channel was closed from Fox's end. Pepper then leaned back in his chair and breathed deeply. He knew there was trouble ahead. He could feel it in his old bones.

"How do you think the colonel obtained his information?" The parrot asked as she and the greyhound walked down the hallway.

"Who knows, it's none of our business to find out." The canine replied.

"Kevin, what if the colonel had sent a spy in the military to find this information?" The female avian mentioned, "If so, the colonel could end up being court marshaled."

"I thought you have more faith in Wesley than this, Sarah." The greyhound said, "Even if he is, you know that he does it because he thinks that's the right thing to do and not by the Cornerian government's standards. Do you plan on telling?"

"Of course not!" Sarah answered firmly, "I still trust the colonel."

"Then there shouldn't be a doubt in your mind." Kevin said as they kept walking. They walked past the restrooms but then Kevin picked up some noises. He used his acutely sensitive ears to detect voices coming from inside the men's room. "Hold on, I have to use the bathroom."

"Okay, don't take too long." Sarah sighed watching the canine enter through the door.

Kevin walked inside not to use the restroom, but to listen in on others that were already inside, a collie scrubbing the floor and a dalmation washing one of the sinks.

"Man, this really sucks, you know?" The collie said as he scrubbed the floor with a brush.

"I know Steve, but at least we aren't like Zack." Dan said wiping behind the faucet.

"You mean, the poor guy is _still_ outside cleaning the base?" Steven asked in surprise.

"I heard he's just finishing up with the waxing now."

"And to think, it's all because he got caught with the lieutenant's underclothes. It's not like he was trying to mess with it on purpose. The colonel was the one who sent him on laundry duty anyways."

"I know, but at least the guy is still getting paid."

"I still hate the way the colonel gives us this lame ass work that he calls punishment!"

"So, you two have a problem with how the colonel deals with his punishment?" The greyhound said. The two stopped both frozen with fear and looked over at the greyhound who remained hidden the whole time they were talking.

"K-Kevin! You!" The collie stammered.

"Please don't tell Colonel Summers!" Dan pleaded, "We're begging you!"

"Yeah, there's no telling what he'll do to us. Especially since the lieutenant isn't here."

"Don't worry. I came by to tell you two that I'm off on a mission and I thought I should tell my favorite troublemakers so I'm not going to tell the colonel." After the greyhound said those words, the other two soldiers looked at each other with a relieved look on their faces.

"I guess you're not such a bad guy after all, Kev." Said the dalmation.

"But in return for keeping this a secret, I want you guys to clean up my room. I expect it to shine when I get back." Kevin smirked as he walked towards the door leaving the two soldiers with a disappointed look, "Oh and, don't bother looking in there for any dirt on me. Unlike you two, I keep it clean for inspections."

"Crap!" Dan yelled as he threw his rag at the wall.

"All done?" Sarah asked Kevin as he walked out with a small grin on his face.

"Yep, I feel a lot better. Now let's go." The greyhound said with a smile.

"Talk pirate." Commanded the old hound dog. He was standing up looking across a table at the eagle pirate who was sitting in a chair with two armored guards on each side of him, which happen to look like pit bulls. The room itself was white with a large one-way window on the side. The canine walked over to the eagle and placed his paws on the table. "Well? Aren't you going to say something? I've given you enough time to get your thoughts together, now talk!"

Shawn looked up at the old dog with a disdained look, "I'm not telling you anything, mutt."

The old hound was enraged and punched the eagle. In the hound's old age, he still had a strong punch. "Worthless Venomian scumbag! When will you learn that you've lost so tell me what I want to know!" The eagle only spits since his wings are cuffed together behind the chair. The old hound growled at the bird but then a dark smile appeared on his face. "Well, since you won't tell me, then I guess I'll just hold onto this." The dog said pulling out the picture that belonged to Ralph.

Shawn's eyes looked up in surprise and he looked at his pockets and realized that they stole it from him while he was unconscious. He glared at the hound, "Give that back!"

"You want this?" The hound mocked as he moved his other paw to the picture ready to rip it, "Then start talking, pirate. Unless you want to see only half of this picture."

"You son of a bitch! Give that back!" Shawn yelled as he rose up from his chair and tried to lunge towards the old hound. The two guards had stopped him and knocked him to the floor with their beating rods. The hound gave the signal for the two armored soldiers to attack and they began to kick and stomp Shawn. The pit bulldogs kicked the avian all over, wearing their thick boots, ignoring the fact he was still recovering his injuries. The guards kicked him in his stomach, his arms, and his beak nearly breaking it. The only reason they avoided Shawn's chest was because they were specifically instructed by the major not to strike him there, at least until after he told them what they wanted to know. The dogs kept stomping the pirate until he started to bleed at various places on his body. Seeing this, the hound gave the signal for them to stop and the two guards picked up the eagle and placed him back in the chair then stepped back towards the wall. Shawn looked up with disgust and anguish in his face and a trail of blood running from his mouth.

"Try something like that again and it will be worst. Now tell me all you know about Wolf and where the rest of the scumbags are hiding."

"You bastard," Shawn coughed out more blood onto the table, "You can just go to hell!"

The hound nodded to one of the guards. One of the guards walked over and struck Shawn in the back of the head with the metal rod. He then grabbed the avian's feathers on his head and pulled him up to hit him with the rod again on the forehead causing blood to drip from his head and the soldier slammed the eagle's head on the table before stepping back.

"Remember your place in life, pirate." The hound said pulling Shawn's head up by pulling on his head feathers. A trail of red ooze trickled down the pirate's face dripping onto the table. "You are nothing more than piece of shit to society. The lowest of the low, a lowlife scumbag everybody hates and wants to get rid of! You are nothing and will always be nothing."

Shawn was trying to avoid loss of consciousness as his vision started to get blurry, "Even so…but at least, I won't be a damn dog of the military."

The hound was fed up and shoved Shawn down to the floor and then kicked him. "You have no right to say things like that to me, scumbag!"

Summers walked down to the interrogation room. He was waiting from the outside and looked into the room through the window and saw the horrible sight of Shawn being beaten and didn't hesitate to rush in.

"Major!" Summers yelled out, "I'd like a word with you."

"Don't worry, I'm almost done with him." The hound answered.

"Outside, now!"

The old hound looked at the wolf with a stern look and followed the colonel out of the room. Shawn looked up and spat towards the ground while cursing his rotten luck. Outside, the colonel looked through the window at the beaten pirate. He then glared back at the hound, "What the hell were you doing in there?"

"I was trying to get information from that lowlife." The hound answered.

"With brute force?"

"There is no other way to deal with those Venomians."

"You're a fool!" Summers scolded, "We're not trying to beat whoever we capture inches of their life, no matter who or what they are. Venomians or not."

"Are you taking the side of that pirate!" The hound asked in surprise, "The only way to get anything from them is to show them who's in charge!"

"I see you did a good job. Nearly killed him while you're at it." The wolf said with sarcasm noticing the bird choking a little on his own blood, "If we use methods of torture to make them talk, then we're no better than they are."

"What…did you just say!" The hound screamed. His voice echoed through the halls getting the attention of several soldiers and guards who heard the yelling. "You've got a lot of nerve saying that to me. I've been in this army while you were still a pup!" The hound yelled as his face was red with anger, "And after all this time, I'm only at the rank of major while _you_ are a colonel! Those fools in charge now lost their minds putting young soldiers like you in control and that's why we were nearly destroyed in the Lylat War! Just look around! All these fools around here who can't do anything because they're too damn lazy to do it on their own!"

"That's enough." Summers said as calm as he could, "I think it would be best if you took leave from here and take a small vacation to cool your head. You're dismissed."

"Why you…" The major glared, "with newer soldiers like them, they'll die…they'll _all_ die just like Hudson!" The hound was almost instantly knocked to the floor with a hard right to his face. He looked up at the wolf that had struck him.

"You are way out of line!" Summers shouted, "I will not have anyone speaking ill of our fellow fallen comrades. Even you should know how wrong that is. Now then," Summers said grabbing the hound's uniform and pull him up, "I want you to take your things and leave this base. You may only return once you have seen a doctor and they say you are in proper condition to come back, then I'll decide for myself whether or not you're competent enough to work here. If not then I guess you'll be having an early retirement. Now get out of my sight." Summers pushed the old dog back, "Oh, and I'll hold onto this picture that you took." The wolf said holding the picture he swiped back from the hound when he lifted him up, the old dog wiped his face where Summers had hit him and was too upset and stunned to say anything. The old dog just merely turned and walked off. Summers watched the dog as he walked off with his tail between his legs. He then walked back into the room where Shawn was still sitting being guarded. "You two, uncuff our prisoner and escort the major off the premise. Make sure the major doesn't try anything funny." The wolf ordered. The two guards looked at each other then back at the wolf.

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself here?" One of the guards asked.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

With those assuring words, the two pit bulls nodded and released Shawn from the handcuffs. The two then proceeded to walk out of the room each giving a salute to the lupine. Shawn watched a little surprised at what he heard from the wolf and could only guess what he had in store. The eagle watched as the colonel took his seat on the other side of the table.

"I apologize for what the major has done to you." Summers said, "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Shawn seemed a little shocked to hear that then thought about it for a moment, "Why? Didn't get what you wanted out of me? And why'd you tell those other goons to leave? You plan on finishing me off yourself?"

"I have no intentions of harming you."

"Yeah, that's a laugh." Shawn said trying to chuckle but only coughed. More blood slowly dripped from his forehead to his beak and onto the table, but his head bleeding was slow, almost stopped.

"I found something that belongs to you," The colonel said looking at the photo with two gators in it, "Or should I say someone you know?"

"You're here to mock me too?" Shawn spat.

"No, I just want to know what happened on Fortuna."

"Like I'd tell you."

"I'll give you this picture," Summers said as he slid the picture across the table to the pirate, "and to compensate for what that hound did, I'll make a deal with you."

"A deal? Ha!" The eagle laughed, "Don't insult me!"

"I see how it is. But tell me this, did it have something to do with a young fox with the ability to change his right arm?"

The pirate looked up, "Who wants to know."

"I know that you and your band of pirates have been using beings known as 'alter users' and I want to know more about them."

"Why? Wasn't the ones you sent enough?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb! You guys have those alter guys too. 'Cept ours are stronger."

"_The Cornerian army has them too? Then maybe that boy was one that had escaped them._" Summers thought.

"It doesn't matter, once my buddies come to get me, you'll all be in big trouble."

"When you fought against Starfox on Fortuna, was that fox boy there too?" The wolf asked.

Shawn only looked downwards, "You bastards sent him as a spy didn't you?"

"As you should know, we were attacked too. Several ships were destroyed and large amounts of cargo was stolen." Summers informed, "But how about this, I'll do whatever it takes to put a stop to that boy for information about these alter users you've encountered. The boy's name was Kazufox, correct?"

Shawn looked up and had remembered how he considered the alter fox as a friend and how he betrayed them, "Yeah, that's his name."

"So not only did you lose the fox boy, but you also damaged the Great Fox!" Pepper said trying to keep calm while talking into the monitor with the image of the doberman showing.

"The Great Fox had moved in our line of fire and when we tried to stop the missiles, it was too late." Serris explained.

"I should've known better than to leave things in your hands." Pepper scolded, "Do you have any idea where the boy is now?"

"Yes, we have a team out now tracking him as we speak."

"For your sake lieutenant, you had better find him." Pepper threatened before closing the connection. Pepper turned in his chair and sighed deeply. "_It's hard to believe this is really happening…I let things get out of hand. I can only hope and pray the other one hasn't found a way off Corneria. For everyone's sakes._"

A boulder was shattered to pieces and then another and so on. Soon the ground was covered in small rocks and pebbles. The one destroying the rocks was the squirrel alter user and a clear blue colored whip that had been formed from diamond crystals. The frustrated Aron cracks his whip at another boulder shattering it into little pieces. Aron breathed heavily after doing a lot of training with his crystal whip.

"Aron!" Called a female cream colored rabbit, "Aron, look at you. You need to rest."

"I can't!" The squirrel cried out, "I'm sorry Tabby, but I won't stop."

"Aron."

"It's my fault…It's all my fault Serena's gone!" Aron cracked his whip on an area on the ground, "I couldn't help her…I have to keep getting stronger…It's the only way I'll be any use."

"Aron, it doesn't help if you kill yourself trying." The female rabbit said, "You haven't stopped to even eat in days have you?" She then watch Aron panting and gasping for air, then fall to the ground. "Aron. Aron!" The rabbit cried out, "Wake up. Aron!"

"_It's…my fault, I let them get away._" Were Aron's passing thoughts before his mind faded out.

Aron had finished working for the day. His job was to direct where supplies would go, checking inventory, and also help in building construction. After a hard days work, the squirrel began walking towards his home. He overheard something interesting, two females talking about a fox returning to the land again.

"A fox…it couldn't be, could it?" Aron asked himself. He then looked up the road and saw a cat walking by herself. "Serena. Serena!" Aron called out as he ran over to her.

Aron had managed to talk with Serena and find out that Kazufox had returned to the Lost Ground. However, he was wondering why and for what purpose. Just then, Darian and Suichi appeared.

"Well, well Aron, long time no see." Said the mouse.

"Not you two. What do you want?" Aron demanded.

"We came here for that girl you were just talking to." The Darian answered.

"What do you want with her?"

"That's none of your business." Suichi hissed.

"I won't let you two slimeballs lay a finger on her." The squirrel said as her started glowing. A small chunk of the ground disappears and forms into three diamond shaped crystals that floated around Aron.

"Hehehehe. I wonder how much stronger he's gotten." The mouse laughed.

"I doubt if it was much at all." The horse added in.

Aron narrowed his eyes towards the two while the crystals floated around him. He remembered seeing Darian being dark brown but now had a noticeably green tint to his coat, and Suichi still wore his sunglasses that were to protect his eyes from his own alter powers, and his fur was sticking up around his neck and head from his own static. Both of them wore black uniforms with white in the front and four black buttons on each side lined up on the chest and abdomen area. They wore long dark colored boots and white arm covers that went from the wrist to the elbow, but enough for full articulation of the arm.

"So, who are you losers working for?" Aron asked.

"That's None of your business." Suichi proclaimed.

"Fine, I'll just have to beat you two then."

"We're not the same as before, squirrel." Darian said, "We're a lot stronger than last time."

"We'll see about that!" Aron said grabbing one of the floating crystals. He snapped it down to his side while the other two crystals conjoined with the one in a chain link and instead of three large crystals there was a chain link of small sharp crystal gems. A crystal-like whip was formed.

The other two alter users only snickered at Aron as they both formed their alters as well. Darian formed a small tree-like creature while Suichi formed the lightning conductors on his shoulders and metallic gloves and boots. Darian sent his alter to attack first launching a wave of razor leaf blades. Aron easily took care of the attack with a swing of his whip cutting all the leaves in two. The horse was slightly surprised since before, Aron had trouble before avoiding the leaf blades.

"In case you didn't notice, I've gotten better too." Aron said.

Suichi went in next taking the time to charge up his attack and then fire lightning bolts in Aron's direction. The squirrel used his crystal whip to deflect the lightning bolts. Darian and his alter moved to Aron's left side and sent vines to strike. Aron managed to block some of the vines while the others struck him in the face and chest knocking him to the ground. The squirrel looked up and saw Suichi in the air above. The mouse was all charged up and dropped a large bolt of electricity down on Aron. Aron rolled out of the way to end up in the path of more razor leaf blades. Aron knew he couldn't dodge this attack so he took up his whip and began swinging it in front of him in a clockwise motion, and as the leaf blades entered the crystal whirlpool, they were each cut into pieces. The ground below then began to give way so he jumped away as roots coming from Darian's tree alter tried to snag his feet.

"Looks like Aron's got a little quicker on his feet." Darian noted.

"Let's see him dance then!" Suichi yelled out firing more electric bolts of energy at Aron's feet trying to trip him. Aron, however, had easily been able to keep up with the mouse. He then cracked his whip at Suichi, the mouse jumped back at the last second to avoid being cut in two. His shades had been cut though, exposing the mouse's formerly green eyes now more of a yellow color.

"Ha, now that you don't have those sunglasses to cover your eyes, you won't be able to use your alter." Aron smiled, "Otherwise you'll just blind yourself!"

"You…those were a custom pair!" The mouse said charging up the conductors on his shoulders sending the energy into the metal gloves. The rodent then launched a powerful bolt at Aron. The squirrel tried to run out of the way, when the bolt touched the ground it caused an explosion sending Aron to fall over. The mouse looked into his hands and was surprised. "_I…didn't go blind. My eyes don't even bother me._" Suichi thought to himself, "_I guess those pods we we're in really must've helped. Like how the commander said._"

"Hey, are you alright over there?" Darian asked.

"Yeah, I'm just great!" The mouse answered charging up his energy again. The two had surrounded Aron.

"_Oh no…I'm trapped!_" Aron thought, "_I better think of something quick._"

"I'm tired of this, let's end it now!" Darian said having his alter launch more leaf blades at Aron while Suichi fired a charged up lightning bolt.

Aron knew he was done for if he didn't do something right then and there. He then crouched down on one knee and crossing his arms. "Crystal Barrier!" The squirrel yelled out. The crystal whip then started to form over his body hardening it like a diamond until his entire body was covered. As the leaf blades struck, they only bounced off and the lightning bolt was deflected back at Suichi. The mouse moved out to avoid it as it then crashed into the ground.

"So the Crystal Squirrel still manages to retain his name." Darian scoffed, "He can form an unbreakable shield over his entire body."

"Heh heh heh…to bad we know how to stop him this time!" Suichi laughed.

Suichi began to charge up a large amount of electric power. Darian had his tree alter wrap its vines around Aron's hardened form.

"Hey, are you ready?" Darian asked.

"All set over here!" The mouse replied.

"Then blast him."

Suichi then fired a blast of all the stored energy he had built up in Aron's direction. Instead of going directly towards the squirrel, the bolt made an arc towards Darian's tree alter. Once the plant was hit, it didn't flinch as the energy was transferred down to the vines as it made its way to Aron. The squirrel was trapped in the full force of the attack and in that form, he couldn't move. His shield would block attacks of all kind but he had never dealt with a concentrated blast of constant energy like that. The crystal began to crack. After the energy rush had stopped, the vines released Aron and returned to the tree. The crystal had completely shattered leaving Aron fried from the attack. He then fell forward on his face groaning in pain.

"Ha ha ha! Look at who's the loser now!" Suichi mocked.

"Shut up…"Aron managed to speak, "You dirty rat…"

The mouse was furious by that. "Why you! I'm not a rat!" Suichi yelled as he kicked Aron in his side.

"Whoa, take it easy. The commander doesn't want any casualties here." Darian reminded, "At least, not yet."

"Let's just get the girl and get outta here." Suichi hissed.

"Aron? Aron are you alright?" Serena asked running back to check up on the squirrel only seeing Aron lying on the ground.

"Serena…get out of here!" Aron yelled out. The cat didn't need to know anything else figuring that the other two figures were a threat. She turned and ran back down the rocky road. The two alter users snickered to themselves as they chased after the feline. Suichi had charged up some power and fired a bolt in front of Serena causing her to stop long enough to be surrounded by the two. Darian came up from behind and reached his arms under the young cat girl's shoulders and locked his hands behind Serena's neck. Serena kicked and flailed her body as much as she could to try and escape and cried out for help.

"Hey, hurry up and grab her legs!" Darian said while trying to keep the girl still.

"Hold on, I'm trying!" Suichi said trying to grab Serena's feet, "Can't you keep her sti-"

Those were the rodent's last words until he felt an incredibly sharp pain surge through his body. Serena had her foot lodged in the mouse's groin making him fall to the ground wailing in pain.

"Man, that had to have hurt." Darian said not paying attention to notice Serena jerk her head close to the horse's right and bite his arm. Darian screamed out, loosening his grip on the feline. Serena managed to pull her right arm free and at first chance, swung at Darian's face hitting him on the nose. Darian was a little surprised how strong the young girl was. Serena punched the horse again causing Darian to lose his grip enough for the girl to pull her other arm free and then began running again.

Suichi looked seeing the girl running, "Oh no you don't!" The mouse charged up again, this time firing a bolt at the girl's feet tripping her over. She tried to get up but was tangled in a bunch of vines from Darian's tree alter and was reeled up to it. The tree began to shake some of its leaves making purple colored spores fall. Serena tired to hold her breath and not inhale in the spores but it was too late as the spores had begun making her drift to sleep.

"Why couldn't you do that sooner?" Suichi asked staggering to his feet while holding himself between the legs.

"Think I had any idea how much trouble she would be?" The horse answered wiping his snout, "Well, we got her now. The commander will arrive soon."

"That stupid little…" The mouse started before looking back finding a small suburban area not too far down the road, "Hey, look over there."

"I've got an idea, how about while we wait we have a little fun?" The horse grinned mischievously.

"No…" Aron said with the little strength he had left grabbing onto Darian's leg as they walked past him, "Let her go…!"

"Let go of me you piece of garbage!" Darian commanded kicking the squirrel off him. The two continued on their way with Serena still being held by Darian's alter.

The cream colored rabbit was sitting in a chair next to the bed Aron was resting in. She had just tucked the squirrel in bed when she heard a knock on the door.

"Who could it be now?" She sighed getting up and walking over to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw a short dark feathered crow wearing a purple uniform with white on the front and black around the shoulder area, dark boots, white arm guards. The bird had a parted feathery hairstyle. A large panda who also wore the same type of uniform accompanied him, but his was unbuttoned showing the white fur over his round shaped stomach. The large panda had a long piece of grass in his mouth that he usually carries with him and looked like he was carrying something over his shoulder. "Oh! Helios, Odion, it's good to see you two." The rabbit greeted.

"Hello Tabbitha." The crow said.

"Hey, how've you been?" The panda asked.

"I've been okay, thank you." Tabbitha replied.

"Is Aron in?" The bird asked.

"He is but I'll explain. Come in."

"Okay, hope you don't mind having room more three." The panda said.

"Three?" The rabbit wondered. After the panda had walked in, she noticed the unconscious Cornerian soldier and gasped in surprise. "What happened?"

"It's part of the reason we stopped by so suddenly." The crow explained, "We need to see Aron."

The skies on MacBeth were as gray as ever, if not grayer. Many furs and otherwise were worked under forced labor in the mining area. Keeping them in line were many soldiers in Venioman uniforms. They had metallic rods and would beat those who slacked off or took a break mercilessly but not enough to cause them to bleed, only to bruise. Many men, women, and children no matter how young or old, were all being worked to near death. All were mining for valuable minerals to send them to the processing plant nearby which was also the base of operations for the mining. There were captives that would be taken away on a regular basis to the base. The next person that was taken was an adult male gray furred squirrel. Two guards were escorting the prisoner into the main base. Another group of soldiers noticed the next prisoner brought in the base.

"There goes another one." Said an ape soldier, "Sometimes I wonder what the commander does with all of them?"

"Heh, who knows." Answered a kangaroo checking his blaster polishing it.

"I get a creepy feeling with that guy." A swine soldier said.

"He's an insane nutcase if you ask me." Added a crocodile.

"It's none of our business anyways." The kangaroo said placing his blaster back into its holster, "Remember the last time someone got a little curious?"

"Don't remind me!" The pig squealed.

"No one saw the guy again." The croc remembered, "Only his organs…"

"I just said don't remind me!"

"Sorry if you can't stomach it." The reptile said with a sarcastic tone, "But you could loose the weight anyways." He then noticed an artic wolf mechanic in a gray mechanic uniform and hat walking around nearby. "Hey you!" The mechanic looked over towards the soldiers. "I need you to look at my ship for me, it seems to be stalling a little. Go fix it." The crocodile ordered.

"And fix mine while you're at it." The pig snorted. The mechanic simply nodded and hurried off towards the hangar.

"For some reason, I don't like that guy." The ape soldier said.

"I've got that same feeling, but we just have to keep working." The kangaroo said.

The mechanic had his hat cover over most of his face. He walked into the storage hangar. It was almost empty with the exception of a few other mechanics doing checks on the other ships. The wolf walked over past them looking for the ships belonging to the two soldiers which happened to be on almost opposite sides of the large room. He first went to the one at the very end, which belonged to the pig soldier. The artic wolf went into the cockpit, which was very spacious for him. He removed his hat to get a better look at the controls with his noticeably blue eyes. His white hair was wild and in need of a trim, it grew until he had a ponytail that was held together by a small blue band. The artic wolf began a system check as normal, but this time, he tampered with the distress beacon and sent out a signal before he left the ship going to the crocodile's. The mechanic put on his hat in deep thought, "_I just hope help arrives in time._"

Kazufox had heard a noise of a motor heading in his direction and stood by the pine trees waiting to find out what it was. Snow had continued to fall slowly from the clouds above. He soon saw something approaching in the distance and wondered who or what it was. The vehicle soon came into view clear enough to tell it was some snowmobile that had some type of platform in the back with someone standing on the back of it. The fox knew there was trouble coming his way, either the Cornerian army was looking for him still or it was someone else wanting his power because that's how it usually went.

Jetters continued riding on the back of the vehicle as the gorilla he called 'Metalfists' continued driving towards the forested area where they found rising smoke. The leopard looked around through the trees finding a point of entry until his eyes had spotted something hiding in the trees.

"Alright, head over there." Jetters pointed out to the ape. The gray haired ape obeyed and drove over to the area. The lights were on the figure hidden in the tree. Jetters saw a fox that looked a little familiar. "Stop here." The leopard ordered and the gorilla stopped the vehicle. Jetters had looked over at the vulpine to see that he was the same fox that he had planned to save for later. A small grin appeared on his face as well as a slight chuckle.

Kazufox had stepped out from behind the trees to get a better look. The lights from the vehicle had blinded him until the lights were then cut off. The alter fox took a good look at the vehicle and who was on it. He couldn't really tell who the driver was except for the teal colored hair. He did have full view of the rider in the back, a leopard about his height if not, taller wearing a black uniform with white in the front and two rows of four buttons on each side, a pair of dark color boots, and white arm guards.

"_Is this guy with those others I met from before?_" Kazufox thought to himself.

"Hello there and welcome to Fichina." The leopard greeted, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Kenneth Jetters and I noticed that there was a ship that crashed not too far from here and I figured it might've been yours." He could tell the fox wasn't really interested in what he had to say. "I know that you are an alter user."

"_I knew it! He's with those Cornerian bastards!_" Kazufox thought as he took a fighting stance with his fists raised glaring at Jetters.

"Take it easy," Jetters said raising a hand up, "I'm not here to fight you because I too, am an alter user." He noticed the vulpine lower his fists but still had a glare. "I understand how you must feel about those 'naturals' chasing after you all the time, hunting you down because of your power, your abilities, your gift." Jetters heard a small scoff from the young fox after saying that. "But, there is a way to stop them, but I need your help. If you join with my forces, we can work to stop these 'naturals' and make the Lylat system bow to the superior beings, us, alter users." He then saw the fox turn and start to walk away. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm not interested in your little war." Kazufox answered, "I fight my own battles and I won't join up some group and take orders from anyone."

"Don't you understand what me and the others are fighting for?" Jetters asked, "We are going to make those naturals pay for everything they've done to us! The kidnappings, the experiments, treating us as lower life forms! Don't you get what I'm saying!" The leopard questioned with his voice in more of a yelling tone.

"Don't think I already know? That's why I keep fighting them. Hell, it's the reason I'm even on this planet to begin with." The fox explained, "I don't plan on fighting anyone's battles, I'll fight my own. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks."

Jetters was becoming furious at Kazufox's response, "Is that how you thank the person responsible for saving your tail on Fortuna?" Kazufox then stopped and glanced over, "Yes, I was the one responsible for saving you, not those mercenaries, what were they called, Starfox was it?"

"What are you talking about?" Kazufox asked.

"After their leader left you to die, I had one of my troops place you in a recovery capsule. Which was the only thing keeping you from death, but as to how they ended up finding you, I have no idea. You were fortunate to have me there watching the battle to help you out there." Jetters was hoping that the fox would be more willing to join knowing that he had helped him.

Kazufox then continued walking again, "I appreciate the help, I'll find a way to repay you for it some other time. I've got something I need to do right now."

"You…you ungrateful brat!" Jetters screamed as an aura began glowing around him meaning he was about to form his alter, "You stubborn little punk, I'll make you join on way or the other!"

Kazufox looked up to see Jetters leap towards him as he used half of the snow vehicle to form his alter. The fox jumped out of the way as Jetters crashed into the snow hitting it like an explosion. As the snow cleared and Jetters was visible, Kazufox saw some type of armor on him. A metallic gray chest plate covering his upper body, the same type of color on the gauntlets on his arm replacing the white arm bands with a yellow ring on the back of his paw. His legs were also covered in the same type of armor covering most of the boots below the knee. Large wires of red and gray were connected from the back of the armor to each limb linking to the arm parts together.

An almost emerald colored energy began to flow through the red and gray wires into the gauntlets as Jetters powered up. He then dashed towards Kazufox and leaps up again ready to pounce. The fox jumped back just before Jetters crashed, but the leopard then pushed himself off the snow covered ground towards Kazufox with a shoulder tackle knocking the fox down on his back.

"You'll understand why they call me the Crush Leopard." Jetters said, "I'll crush anything in my path!"

Kazufox then stood up on his feet forming his Shell Shurigun alter form. He used the eye to try and lock onto the spotted feline. Jetters then leaped up again still powered up preparing to attack with a powerful punch. Kazufox returned one of his own colliding in a burst of energy. After pushing each other back, Kazufox was the one sent flying back into another area of the woods. Luckily, the snow had softened the blow for him. He then started to get up.

"Man, as soon as I'm done with all of this," The fox began to say, "I'm going on a long vacation."

Jetters breathed hard as he looked around for Kazufox. He was still fuming from the vulpine's refusal to join him.

"Are you just gonna sit there or are you going to do something useful?" Jetter asked turning to the gorilla in the snow vehicle. The ape then got out and then transformed the vehicle into his alter. A pair of giant metallic floating hands with small semi sphere in each palm. The gorilla then went into the woods to try and find Kazufox having the metal hands rip apart the trees in his path. "Now that's better." Jetters said watching the ape head deeper into the forest, "Dammit! I'll make that brat pay…"

Back at the Volstra base, the Starwolf team had made their return. As their highly damaged ships approached the fortress, the doors opened to the hangar. The three Wolfens glided inside the base with the gate sealing shut behind them. Once the three ships had parked, Wolf, Panther, and Leon jumped out of the cockpit and onto the metal floor. The mechanics went to work scurrying trying to check the damage Wolfens, which looked like they could fall over at any minute.

"Oh no…" Panther cried, "My beautiful Wolfen is…"

"Quit your crying." Leon said, "Just be glad we managed to get over here." Wolf walked off while Panther still saddened by the sight of his destroyed ship. Leon saw Wolf head off and followed him. "Hey Wolf, aren't you going to get some rest now? We'll need some if we want to keep our heads straight."

"I will. I just need to check on something." Wolf replied as he went into the elevator and its doors closed behind him. The elevator reached one of the floors and the two exited walking down the hall. Soon enough, they reached the room containing the refined alter users in their pods only to find the numbers had decreased.

"You, tell me what their condition is." Wolf ordered pointing to one of the soldiers in charge of watching them.

"Lord O'Donnell it's good to see you back sir." The bulldog greeted.

"Save it and tell me what I want to know."

"Very well, as you can see, most of those things used up too much power that they collapsed." The soldier reported, "Luckily, we were able to keep any more from dying than the ones from before while you were on Fortuna."

"Good. We'll need as many of those as we can." Wolf said as he looked around at some of the pods seeing some with red lights. Those were probably the ones that were using their alter powers to power up the Wolfens. Others were in the green, which were ready to be used in battle. "Let me know as soon as they are all ready to fight again."

"Understood Lord O'Donnell." The bulldog saluted.

Wolf exited the room finding a waiting Leon leaning next to the doorway.

"I knew I'd find you here." Leon said standing upright.

Wolf looked at the lizard as the doors slid shut behind him. "What are you up here anyways?" Wolf asked.

"I got fed up with Panther's whining and decided to find out what you were up too."

"He's still crying about his ship?" Wolf asked not really surprised and started walking.

"He's getting on my last nerves with all that boo hooing." Leon answered following Wolf, "Sometimes I wish I could just slit his throat and rip out his voice box. That would shut him up."

"As much as I would enjoy not hearing Panther whine so much," Wolf said with a smirk as if he enjoyed Leon's idea, "We still need him."

"Bah. I sometimes wonder why you even let him join." The reptile wondered, "He's almost as annoying as Andrew."

"Panther is nowhere as bad as Andrew." Wolf said, "And if Panther wasn't such a skilled pilot, I would've gotten rid of him a long time ago."

"Humph." Leon scoffed, "So what are you planning now?"

"First we'll rest up. And after all those alter soldiers are recovered, we'll take them with us back to Sargasso. We'll then find a way to eliminate those dogs before they do any more damage."

"I suppose this means we'll make a direct attack on Corneria then?" Leon asked as the two went back into the elevator.

"If it comes to that…so be it." Wolf said as the doors shut closed.

In a small dark room, computer regulators surrounded a recovery pod. The red light flashing on one of the monitors soon turned green. The stasis pod soon opened releasing a cloud of smoke and gas as the pressure around it stabilized. Inside the pod was the liger still in his dark uniform similar to what Jetters and his other alter soldiers had except it was drenched with liquid. The fluid inside was soon drained and the half-bred feline rose up removing the oxygen mask covering his muzzle. The white liger looked over on a stand nearby finding a change of clothes, the same uniform but dry and a towel. Thomas stretched his neck, legs and tail, and then looked at his paws. He closed them into fists and opened them again feeling a little stiff, but not as stiff as when he used up a lot of his power before days ago.

"I wonder how long I was out this time." Thomas said in a sad sigh, "If all is going according to plan, then I don't have anything to worry about. But I should pay a visit to our little guest." The liger walked out of the room as the doors shut closed behind him.


End file.
